The Mystical Flowers of Morning
by MarinK
Summary: Saving Zelda, Marin is back, and a new girl we all fall in love with. There is an underground city with a monster of terrible strength, magics of all kind, a family reunion and love. Sound good? I loved writing this and a sequel is coming!! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

A/N - This was my first ever story or post here. I hope those of you who have not read this, or read it before, will still like it. I have made a few minor adjustments, such as spelling errors, etc. and yet, it will never be perfect. Please read, enjoy and R&R!   
  


P.S.- I am writing a sequel so read this one so you can read the next one.   
  


-*-*- The Mystical Flowers of Morning -*-*-   
  


Chapter One

The Beginning 

Link opened his flashing blue eyes to a fresh new morning. A soft emerald light streamed through his window, as he smoothed back his blonde bangs. Today is going to be great! he thought to himself, grinning. It had been five months since he had defeated Ganon. Today, everyone in Hyrule was celebrating. Zora's Domain was flowing once again, Death Mountain Crater had been sealed shut, the Moblin guards in the Sacred Forest Meadow had vanished, the citizens of Hyrule Castle Town had moved back in to their homes and everything was the way it should be. Link had received an invitation to a celebration party at Hyrule Castle by Princess Zelda. Also, it said specifically for him to come to the castle early this morning. 

Link, who usually slept 'till noon, was out of bed in a heartbeat. He pulled on one of his many Kokiri tunics and his worn, comfortable brown leather shoes. As fast as he was out of bed, he was bounding down the ladder and saddling up Epona. "Ready for a ride, girl?" he questioned. Epona just threw her mane back and neighed happily for an answer. Link took that as a yes and hopped on, laughing like a little child. Swiftly and surely, he rode Epona to the castle gates. He was about to enter when one of the castle guards stopped him. He was a big man with a short black beard and mustache. He seemed a man not to be trifled with. Link came to this conclusion from the stare the man gave him with his deep, black eyes. 

"Invitation please?" asked the burly guard. 

Quickly, Link started to search his pockets for his invitation, but it was nowhere in sight. "Um. . . well, you see. . " he began but the guard stopped him abruptly. 

"I can't let you in without an invitation," he said gruffly. 

"Can't you please? Just this once?" Link pleaded. 

"Sorry young man but I have my orders." 

"Oh, well, that's alright. I'll go find it and come back," he said soberly. The guard just started to laugh and said, "No need to do that, Link. I was only joking." And sure enough, with one last hearty laugh, he opened the gates. Link sped Epona through the gates and to the stables. Then he leapt off nimbly and headed towards the castle doors. 

Link was amazed at what he saw. Servants were bustling everywhere . Scrubbing the checkerboard floors, decorating the main hall with pooffy pink bows, carrying hundreds of platters of turkeys from the royal kitchen, marking off things on a sheet of paper, and anything else you can imagine. 

Utterly bewildered, Link walked around, avoiding a puddle of soapy water and a box of pooffy pink bows as he went, looking for Zelda. As he strolled down a corridor that was covered in portraits of the royal family, he looked into a room and saw a very amusing sight. He found Zelda being followed around by three servants. One, with a mouth full of hairpins, was trying to fix her silky blonde hair in an enormously complex style, while holding her shining crown. The other two were smoothing her sapphire blue dress, tightening her silk sash, filing her nails, anything of importance and all the while, Princess Zelda, looking about as red as a beet, was about to explode. Link almost doubled over with laughter at the sight. At that moment he was glad not to be royalty. 

Suddenly, Zelda looked his way. She gave him such a pleading look that he could almost hear her saying Link!!! Get them out of here! He sighed and slowly went over to her rescue. "Excuse me," he said, in a very dignified tone, " I believe that the king and queen just sent for you. They said it was very urgent." The servants stared at him for a moment. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were scrambling down the hall to find their majesties and help them in their, umm . . . dire situation. He turned around just in time to avoid a head-on collision with Zelda. She turned around and grinned at him. "Do your servants always do that?" he asked innocently raising an eyebrow at her. 

"Only when we have a royal banquet or ball of some sort," she remarked trying not to giggle, "And thanks for saving me. If you hadn't come right then I would have burst out screaming! Honestly, they think I'm a doll, just to dress-up with nothing to do but sit around all day and be pretty." 

"You're welcome. And by the way, why did you want me to come to the castle early?" Link had been pondering this all morning. 

"To get rid of my servants, of course," she replied teasingly. 

"Come on Zelda, really. Why?" This time he said it more seriously. 

"It's . . . well, umm . . . lets go to the library to discuss it." she said quite solemnly. Link could tell it was important, so they quickly went up to the library. As they entered, Zelda locked the doors so no one would interrupt them. 

"Alright Zelda, we're here so what's so important?" he said, now very interested in what she was going to tell him. 

"Link," she almost whispered, " I had a vision a few days ago." 

Link stared at her in shock. This wasn't at all what he expected. 

"It came to me more in little scenes than one picture," she stammered quietly. "First, I saw me, lying down with my arms crossed, as if I were . . . ." she paused for a moment, "dead . . ." 

Link suddenly felt a lump in his throat and had a struggle forcing it down. Zelda? . . . Dead? . . . How could that happen? The thought was too painful for him to think about, yet Zelda continued. "Next, I saw you and a girl with brown hair and sparkling green eyes running through a forest . . ." Link thought about that. Did he know a girl that looked like that? His thoughts were interrupted by Zelda's trembling voice. "And in the last scene, I saw you on an island with the green eyed girl. Another girl was there also, with fiery red hair and blue eyes, handing you a flower that looked like it was made from a piece of the sun." Zelda, now finished, was sweating. Her normally dancing blue eyes were wide with fear, staring at Link. 

Link was confused, afraid, sad and utterly bewildered. How did it all fit together? Who were these two girls involved? Was Zelda going to . . . No! he thought fiercely. Don't even think that! She might be wrong . . . but his thoughts trailed off hopelessly. Zelda was right last time and was most likely right this time. He looked over at her. She had lost all dignity and was sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Link began to comfort her when she began talking softly through her tears. The only other sound was a strange clicking noise that came from the door. 

"What are we going to do Link? I don't see any way around it! Should I tell my father? I don't think it would do any good, though, if we told him. It would probably upset him, worry him and I don't want to have him worry, not right now anyway." Then she began to weep again. 

"Don't worry Zelda. We'll just find a way to . . ." but he lapsed into silence. How could you avoid death? It was impossible, for one thing. Just then Zelda piped up, controlling herself. "That's not the only problem, Link! You see . . ." but just then they were interrupted. A servant had been fiddling with the lock for a few minuets, trying to unlock it in their haste. He was dressed in uniform and running towards them, wringing his hands, with a worried expression on his face. Quickly he said, "Princess Zelda, Master Link. Everyone has been combing the castle looking for you! The celebration just started and . . .and . . ." Before he could finish, Zelda and Link were flying down the stair railing and racing through the hall. 

"What . . . were you . . .going . . . to say?" he managed to gasp as they sat down at the royal table in the banquet hall. Despite the fact that her crown was now almost hanging from her ear, many little wisps of her golden hair had escaped onto her forehead and her face was red and blotchy from crying, Zelda still looked quite regal and dignified. "I can't explain now," she whispered, putting a delicate hand on his shoulder. "I'll tell you after the banquet." And with that, she began to clap. Link began to clap too, but never knew why. In fact, he didn't really remember what happened during the celebration at all. He was too busy working out Zelda's visions and what to do about it. He was sure there were plenty of girl's with green eyes and brown hair all over in Kakariko and Castle Town. But he did know who the red head was. Knowing who she was made it all even more confusing. It isn't possible! he thought. His mind began to drift into a blurry haze trying to remember . . .but remember what? It was useless; he couldn't remember. He sighed, clearing his mind of those thoughts for later, when it came time. Now he had to keep Zelda safe and that was what he needed to think about. Though from what he did not know. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Hello again! Did you like chapter one? I know, I know, it can be really boring sometimes and yes, this story has a Mary Sue later on but bear with me. Please? It is great when you get through all the boring stuff at the beginning, okay?   
  


Chapter Two

Jolly Good Fun . . or not 

The celebration lasted through the night and into the morning sunrise. When it was all finally over and sleepy guests were leaving to retire to their beds, Link began to search for Zelda to finish their conversation. He knew she wouldn't want to talk about it but her life was at stake. After searching the castle to no avail, Link asked their majesties where she might be. While stifling yawns, they told Link that she was in bed, fast asleep. Oh, well, he thought, I could do with forty winks or so. And with that he began trudging out of the palace. 

Out in the stable yard, however, was Epona, neighing loudly to Link. Hearing her, he headed back to the stable yards. Epona looked at him with an indignant glare, snorting. "Sorry, Epona. I'm just tired and I've got a lot to think about right now." Then, to show her he was sorry, he gave her a fat, juicy carrot. She nuzzled him happily in acceptance as Link climbed stiffly on. Almost asleep, Link rode Epona into the blazing sunrise and Epona turned to the left, so they were heading the right direction. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Link woke with a start. He looked around to get his bearings and found himself in the middle of Hyrule Field, being nuzzled by a concerned Epona. It was high noon and the sun was glaring in his eyes, telling him to get up. He rolled over groaning, still tired, rather stiff and damp from sleeping on the dewy grass. Then, slowly, he got up and sat on Epona. "Let's go home girl," he said yawning slightly, resting his head in her soft white mane. Epona, who was rather eager to get home, raced off towards the Kokiri Forest. 

As Epona slowed, Link sat upright, so as not to appear asleep. When they reached the ladder to his house, he jumped off Epona, raced up the ladder, leapt into his bed and was snoring in under seven seconds. Epona, whickered, slightly amused, went to go rest. By the time Link awoke, night was falling rapidly and a letter ,with a rock on top, was fluttering in the wind. Quickly, he got up and tore off the royal seal on it and read: 

Dear Link, 

Please come to the castle tomorrow at noon for a picnic. I, Princess Zelda, will be there as well as Princess Ruto of the Zoras and Malon of Lon Lon Ranch. The picnic will be at Lake Hylia. We will also be fishing, so please bring your fishing gear. 

Sincerely yours, 

Princess Zelda 

Link chuckled to himself. Zelda never could write a letter without being formal. This will be good, he thought, I can talk to Zelda about her visions. Just then, a wolfos howled at the moon. Link stretched his arms above his head. He wasn't the least bit tired after all the sleep he had had that day, so he decided to ponder Zelda's visions. At first, Link began thinking of impossible, ridiculous plans to keep Zelda safe. They could lock her away in a tower, have guards stay with her everywhere she went, or she could . . . but suddenly it hit him. What if Ganon was behind all this? Could he be plotting some evil scheme this very moment? How could he protect Zelda from him? What if . . . . but he never finished his thoughts because sleep had claimed him and he was sleeping like a log. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Slowly, Link peeked open one eye. The sun was streaking up into the sky and it was almost noon. As if hit by a bolt of lightening, Link shot out of bed, grabbing his fishing gear, and ran to get Epona. She was snoozing in her stall, having a wondrous dream about carrots and apples, when she was rudely woken by Link slapping her face saying "Come on Epona, wake up! I'm going to be late." Epona lazily opened one eye to signal she was awake. Slowly, just to annoy Link, she got up stretching her legs, shaking her mane, and so on and so forth. Link looked at her with a wide grin and said, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry for slapping you. Now will you please take me to the castle?" The pleading, innocent look he gave her was irresistible. She neighed her answer and let him hop on. She rode, once again to the castle, neighing with pleasure at the cool morning breeze. Then, for one last joke, she stopped at the castle gate, so abruptly that Link nearly flew off, head over heels. He patted her laughing, "I suppose I deserve that?" he questioned her. She shook her head agreeing with him. The same guard with the black mustache and beard was there. When he saw Link he grinned saying, "Invitation please?" 

"And this time I have it!" he retorted smartly, grinning, handing the guard his letter. 

"It seems to be in order," he chuckled, " and by the way, call me Jack." 

"I will. Thank you, Jack." he said. 

"Your welcome anytime Link," he called after him as he galloped through the gates. Quick as he could, he left Epona in her stall with an apple and two carrots to munch on, while he ran up to the palace with his fishing pole. He skidded to a stop to keep from running into Malon, who was giggling with Ruto in the entrance hall, and fell to the floor with a crash! They turned around to see a pile of green cloth and fishing stuff on the velvet carpet. They laughed at the sight of him and ran over to help him up. Link was thoroughly embarrassed. He blushed a deep scarlet as they helped him off the floor. 

"Thanks," he stammered quickly. 

"You're welcome!" squealed Malon ecstatically. "We've been waiting for you." 

"Yes," chimed in Ruto, " and why are you late?" But just as Link was going to answer Malon said, "Probably sleeping in Hyrule Field." Both Malon and Ruto burst out laughing. I always knew those two were nuts! he thought silently. So Malon had seen him in the field. It isn't even that funny, and those two . . . but his thoughts were interrupted by the large creek of an old door swinging open. 

It was Zelda, bursting in through a side door to see what all the commotion was. She looked over the scene before her. Link looking slightly disgusted and embarrassed. Ruto almost doubling over with laughter and Malon leaning on her for support, laughing as well. Zelda gave Link a very curious glance. She knew this would be a disaster. Why was she having this picnic anyway? She sighed and cleared her throat loudly so that Ruto and Malon would note her presence. They both looked up and stopped laughing, but continued giggling quietly. 

"Would any one like to go on the picnic we're here for?" Zelda asked them with an amused eyebrow. 

"YES!!!!" chimed Ruto and Malon. And then they bounded out the door like the two monkeys they are. Zelda went over to Link and whispered quietly, "What are those two laughing about?" Link, not wanting to humiliate himself further, plainly stated, "I have no idea, whatsoever." Whatsoever is so funny! he thought to himself, silently. Then they raced down to the stables after Malon and Ruto. 

Malon and Ruto were sitting by the lake, talking jibberish, by the time Link and Zelda were caught up. Zelda had brought a picnic basket with her and was laying down a blue and white checkered blanket. Link, Malon and Ruto came over to help lay out the food. 

The food was delicious of course, being prepared by the royal chefs. They feasted on a crispy salad, a small chicken, tiny cucumber finger sandwiches, chocolate pudding and Lon Lon milk provided by Malon. After filling their bellies to the fullest extent, they all began to fish. That is, all except Ruto. She swam around with the fish, playing a game of tag. 

"Ruto!" Link said, exasperated, " we're trying to catch them, not play with them." 

"I know you are!" retorted Ruto, obstinately, " I just want to have some fun." And with that, Ruto leapt back into the water with a tremendous splash! Dripping wet, Link reeled in his line, threw his hands in the air and gave up fishing for the day. Zelda and Malon were both holding back peals of laughter, Zelda being more successful. Malon couldn't help it, she was just in a laughing mood, and burst out in a giggling fit. Slyly, Link said, "Oh, would you like to go for a swim too, Malon?" And before she could protest, Link threw her into the water. 

When she surfaced, gasping for breath, she shot Link a twisted look of resentment at his wide, gleaming grin. Zelda, seeing this, had finally cracked. She was rolling on the ground, trying to control her laughter without success. Link looked at Malon with a new look on his face. She returned it with the same mischievous grin on her face. They both ran up behind Zelda, each lifting her under one arm, and advanced towards the lake. 

"You can't do this to me!" Zelda shrieked, kicking violently. " I'm the princess!" 

"Princess, or no, your going into that lake," Malon stated flatly, trying to move out of her kicking range. 

"That's what you get for laughing at two soaked, mischievous teenagers," Link said, grinning at her, tossing her in with one last shriek. Ruto helped her to the surface. Sputtering and kicking with rage, she began to laughed, loud and clear. Link, Malon and Ruto were all laughing too. "Come on," laughed Link, " let's walk to the castle to dry off." Well, I didn't get to talk with Zelda about her visions after all, thought link sorrowfully. He knew it wasn't likely he would get a chance with Malon and Ruto around. But now they were so absorbed in talking to each other, it was a perfect chance to talk to Zelda. And so, laughing and chatting all the way, they made their way back to the castle, but not before a princess' vision came true . . . 


	3. Chapter 3

~*~Chapter Three~*~ 

Eternal Slumber from Siesta 

As Link, Zelda, Ruto, and Malon were climbing up the hill to Lon Lon Ranch, Link began to think to himself, If I don't talk to Zelda now, I won't get another chance for . . . days and then it might be too late! He strode over to Zelda while Malon and Ruto were absorbed in themselves. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Malon whirled around and said "Zelda, look! There's a big patch of flowers over there. Let's pick some." And all the girls sprinted off towards the flower bed, giggling. 

Link sighed, rolling his eyes, and followed them at a slower pace. It's not like he wanted to pick flowers. Why did he always end up with a bunch of girls? Link decided to ponder that question later and talk to Zelda in the present. 

The girls were laughing, picking daisies, primroses, marigolds, violets and morning glories. Suddenly, Zelda exclaimed, picking up a flower. "Oh, look! Have any of you ever seen such a flower?" And indeed, they hadn't. It was a deep, midnight blue with just a hint of violet. There were seven petals, all in the shape of lily pads. It's stem and leaves were a dark shade of forest green with a hint of light in them, as if they held a bit of dew in them. Zelda put the flower close to her prim, delicate nose, smelling the flowers fragrance. 

It's difficult to describe what happened next. First, Zelda went pale and rigid. She looked as if her very soul had been sucked out of her. Then, as Link ran towards her, frantically, she collapsed in a heap in the bed of flowers. Malon was shocked and going into hysterics, while Ruto stood strait, unmoving, bitting her quivering lip, trying not to cry. 

Link knelt down beside Zelda's colorless figure, checking her breathing. Her breaths were thin and short, as if they were blocked in some way, yet she was breathing. Trying to remain calm, he picked up her limp body and started to run. Faster and faster he ran, towards the castle, wishing there was a faster way. Suddenly, he heard a sound that gave him hope. Epona, swift and bold, was galloping towards him. Link had forgotten Epona! Quickly, he laid Zelda's motionless figure on Epona's back, then, hopped on himself. "Thanks, Epona," he whispered softly to his steed. Silently, she rode onward, towards the castle gate. 

He looked down at Zelda, wishing he could do something more for her. Then, Zelda slowly opened her eyes as if trying to wake up. She looked up into Links startled, flushed face and whispered, "Link . . . find the girl without . . . a name . . . She is . . . " then she fell back into the unconscious depths of her mind. Link looked at her emotionless face, wondering what she had meant. 

Then they were at the castle gates. Jack had already opened the gates. "No time for jokes today," he said closing the gates behind them. Link didn't bother to talk, only nodded his appreciation to him. He hopped off Epona's back at the castle front and gingerly held Zelda in his arms. He ran with all his might, straining to get to the castle. He burst through the doors onto a bewildered servant. "Get help!" he almost screamed at the cowering servant, " Princess Zelda's hurt!!!" Without replying, the servant ran towards the door to do as he was biden. 

In the farthest left corner, was a yellow sofa bed, with green leaves decorating it, as if vines were crawling over it. Link laid down Zelda's fragile body, as if it were made of glass. He looked at her, thinking of what she had said. What did it mean? Should he go find this . . . girl without a name? As he stood there, oblivious to the world, their majesties, the cowering servant, and a physician came bustling in. Link suddenly snapped out of his daze and moved aside, as the physician snapped at him. The doctor checked her out and then turned towards Link. "You, boy. Can you tell me what happened to her?" his voice crisp and right to the point. 

"She was picking flowers and then found one I've never seen before. It was a dark blue with seven petals, green leaves and a stem. She smelled it and . . ." his voice trailed off as he gestured towards her, for lack of words. Then the physician nodded at him, then turned back to their majesties. 

"She will live . . ." he said, the king and queen hugging each other for sheer joy, " but," he continued, " she will sleep forever." The king stared at him; if he had just said their daughter was a kangaroo, the king would have been no more surprised. The queen had sat down in a green, cushioned armchair, crying uncontrollably. Link was standing when he had said this and felt his knees buckle under him. He was paralyzed. He thought there would be at least some hope for her, some chance for her to live. As he sat on the floor, he began thinking. This was Zelda's vision. Seeing herself dead, er . . . asleep. Maybe I should tell them about Zelda's visions. He looked over at the queen, crying at her loss, the king trying to comfort her to no avail. Zelda was their only heir to the throne. If she never woke up, who would rule the kingdom? Slowly, he walked over to their majesties. As he stood in front of the queen, she looked up at him, her blue eyes lost in worry. Link felt he didn't know how to begin, when he finally began. 

"Your majesties, on the night of the celebration, Zelda told me something that I think I should tell you," he paused, wondering how to tell them, " She had another vision." The king and queen looked terrified. Zelda's last vision was about Ganondorf. Link continued, "She said it came in three separate parts. In the first, she saw herself dead, but now we know she was only asleep." He looked over at her, relieved that she wasn't dead. "The second was me, running away from something in the forest, with a girl who had brown hair and green eyes. In the last, I was on an island with the green eyed girl, and a girl with red hair and blue eyes. She was handing me a flower that glowed like the sun." Finally finished, Link dared to look up. The king and queen were horror stricken. The king began opening and closing his mouth, as if trying to say something. At last, he croaked, "Why didn't she tell us about this?" 

"She didn't want to worry you just then. She said she would tell you later, when the time was right." Link looked at the king, trying to find an answer in his face. 

"Well, she did try to tell me something this morning, but . . . I sent her away," he was beginning to break down. Link wished he didn't have to upset them more, but he couldn't not tell them. "Something else happened, too," he said quietly, feeling remorse that he had to bring them more anguish, " while I was riding to the castle, she woke and told me to . . . find the girl without a name." His face flushed with embarrassment. He felt silly saying this to them but it's what Princess Zelda had told him. The queen was now giving him a queer look, as if she knew what Zelda had been talking about. "Once, when riding together, Zelda and I met a girl on the road. We asked her if she was lost, but she told us she was on her way home. My gracious daughter gave her a few coins and asked her what her name was. She told us she didn't have one and ran off." She looked at Link with a knowing expression. "I think this is the girl you seek." 

"I'm not looking for her. Zelda only said . . ." but the king interrupted him. 

"She said for you to find her. You were in two of her visions. I believe that you are the one to take this quest." Link looked at his kind face and nodded. 

"I'll do my best, sir." He took one last look at Zelda, laying there still as stone, and turned to leave when a uncompassionate voice said, "I don't know why you are doing this. It won't do any good." Link whirled around, his face red with anger, to see the physician, holding a large book in his hands called The Guide to Magical Plants. 

"The flower you described to me is in this book. It is called a Siesta Flower and is said to make anyone who smells it fall asleep forever. There is no cure, no hope at all for her, she will ---" 

"I don't believe that!" Link spat in his face, disgusted, "I won't believe it! Zelda will not sleep forever because I will not rest until I find the cure!" Then he stomped out of the palace, infuriated, to go and find the girl without a name. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Getting to Know You . . . .   
  


He strode angrily down the palace steps toward his wondering steed Epona. While he had been inside, the sky had darkened, the air turned cold and it began to splatter rain onto his blonde hair, making his pesky bangs stick to his forehead. He swiped at them, pushing them aside so he could see. Quick as he could, he got on Epona's auburn back and headed for home. 

The trip was long and silent, excluding the rumbling thunder that the young Hylian paid no heed to. His thoughts were a mess. Where in the world was he supposed to find this . . . girl? What did she have to do with all this? His thoughts were taking him nowhere and his head was spinning with the confusion in his mind. When they stopped at the ladder of his home, Link didn't move. Partly because he hadn't noticed and partly because he was drowned in thought. His horse was anxious to get out of the rain, even if he was not. Epona reared up and sent Link tumbling to the ground in a big mud puddle. Link fell out of his daze and looked into Epona's laughing eyes. "Sorry, Epona. I'm just having a hard week." Then, patting her with an affectionate muddy hand, he climbed up the ladder to his tree house home. 

As he sat on his bed, in fresh mud-free clothes, he tried to put all the puzzle pieces together. His mind zoomed like an arrow from his bow, moving faster and faster, cutting through the air until it hit the target. His mind lit up like a light bulb. Now he actually had an idea of how to start his quest! But it was now late and even hero's need to sleep, especially ones like Link. He was probably the most lazy hero ever. At first light, he promised himself, drifting into dream land. I will start my adventure, not for the girl without a name. For the girl in the forest with green eyes. And then, he was dead to the world, dreaming of things that are unimaginable to us. 

~*~*~*~*~ 

Sunlight fell upon the unsuspecting face of Link. He rolled over, groaning, knowing he must get up, but sleeping all the same. It had been a lovely dream. Then he remembered why he was getting up at this absurdly early time. He was going to find the girl from Zelda's vision! Link had decided to look in the Lost Woods first. For one thing, they were closest to him and in Zelda's vision they were in a forest. 

As he struggled against the urge to keep sleeping, he slowly fought the battle and came out victorious. He slowly got dressed for a new day. Today, he decided to bring a weapon with him. The Lost Woods did have monsters and he needed to be prepared. Then, he began to grumble to himself again. He hated getting up early, even for a reason like this. He was going to find this girl for an unknown reason. All he knew was that he had to find her. After that, he would find the girl without a name. Maybe the forest girl -as he now referred to the green eyed girl- would know who the other girl was. 

He stood up quickly and regretted it later. You see, Link had grown taller over the years and therefore, hit his head on the wood ceiling. As Link rubbed the abused spot, he went out into the Kokiri Forest. He left Epona in her stall today. She deserved a rest after this very tiresome week. Besides, how would he get a horse into the Lost Woods? She couldn't climb the vines. He chuckled to himself, envisioning Epona trying to climb up the vines in frustration. 

The trip was much shorter than he remembered. He didn't go there much anymore. The only good reason he had before was to see Saria. His mind left him, thinking of the good old days with Saria, laughing and playing the ocarina, talking about things only they understood. He sighed a deep sigh of sadness. Those childhood days were but a memory now, never again to happen. Link shook his head, trying to concentrate on the task laid before him. He plunged daringly into the forest. He took a left, a hard swing to the right, a strait path, another left and right again. Soon, Link was completely lost. Just like the old days, huh? he thought, shaking his head. Link looked around at his surroundings and decided it was a safe place to rest. Just as he sat down, he heard the snap of a twig. In the silence, it was like the boom of a cannon. Quickly, he whirled around and was just in time to see a figure dashing off through the hole ahead. "Wait!" he cried out. Then he regretted it. What if this person was an enemy? He kept on running after them, his sword now unsheathed. 

Then, Link heard a thud and then a groan to his left. Link found the runner on the ground. He held his blade at the back of the strangers neck, just enough to let him, or her, feel that it was there. Slowly, he said, "I wouldn't move if I were you." The person he stared at appeared to be a girl about his age, with long, flowing brown hair. She, if it was a she, was wearing breeches that were the color of the leaves in spring. Her shirt, or what he could see of it beneath her voluminous chestnut hair, was a light blue. In answer to his suggestion, she replied, her face flat against the moist earth, "I'm not scared of any boy! Now, if you will be so kind as to remove the tip of your sword from my neck, I'll be on my way." Her voice was light and airy, even though she was growling at him. Link could tell from her voice that she was a girl. 

"And why should I do that?" he smiled at her, though she couldn't see it. 

"To be kind? I don't know, just let me up," her voice was a bit softer this time. Link sighed to himself at this mistake and lifted his sword. The strange girl jumped up and, in one very swift motion, knocked Link's sword right out of his hand. He lunged for it, but too late. The girl had gotten it first. The girl had it pointed at his throat. Now as she stared at him, with a look a ferociousness, Link saw that she had malicious green eyes. Her face was oval and her skin was pale and delicate. Her lips were a light rosy color and her ears were pointed. She began to back away, through a hole, her eyes never leaving his face, the sword still pointed at him. Then, she was gone. 

Link started after her then thought better of it. He sighed and turned to leave when he heard a piercing scream. It had floated to his ears from the opening the girl had just gone through. He sprinted towards the sound and found her. She was in the Sacred Forest Meadow and a big Wolfos was attacking her. She screamed again as the beast advanced on her, until . . . . CRASH!!!!! The boy she had "met" earlier was standing before her. He held up a shield, blocking the ferocious brute. He turned to her, still blocking the Wolfos, and said, exasperated, "Hand me my sword!" And another crash was heard. This time the attacker had held up one paw and had slashed the boys face. She saw him wince slightly. Quickly, she pulled the sword from the ground where it was stuck and handed it wistfully to the boy. The boy muttered his thanks to her, trying to concentrate as he stalked toward the beast. 

The Wolfos, now interested in this new challenge, charged towards the blonde boy. Link rolled to the side, avoiding him, and stabbed at the Wolfos, cutting a long gash in his side as he passed. The beast was now angry, his eyes glinting. He leapt into the air, to jump on his attacker. As he closed in on the boy, Link stuck his long sword through the body of the creature. It howled in pain as it vanished with purple-blue smoke, showing it's defeat. The boy turned to grin at the girl, but frowned in a look of concern when he saw her. 

The girl stood to leave, but was trembling so much she could hardly stand. She sat back in the grass, hugging her knees, trying to stop her shaking. Her emerald eyes were wide with fear, and she looked about ready to cry. She laid her head on her knees, trying not to cry. Don't cry in front of that boy! He will think your a weak little . . . but her thoughts were interrupted by a firm hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head to look up and saw the boy looking down at her. His face was kind and he looked at her still, his blue eyes soft with concern and one hand covering the gash on his cheek.. She turned her head away from him, trying to brush away the tears that now stained her face. This boy hadn't even known her for an hour and he knew her worst fear. The hand on her shoulder left and she missed the comfort it gave. She turned around to watch the boy leave, but found him lying down, with a piece of grass in his mouth, watching her. Didn't his parents ever teach him it was rude to stare? Now that she was in control of herself she got up to leave but the boy stopped her. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier," it seemed hard for him to say, "Are you going to be alright?" he added softly, his head coked to one side. His voice was thrilling, like the feeling you get when you taste something sweet. 

"I'm just fine!" she snapped, trying not to become friends or even talk to him any longer. She ran away from him, through the opening she had come from and kept at it for a few minuets, incase he tried to pursue her. In her life, the one thing she had learned was to stay away from people. Why had she been following that boy anyway? Everyone she had ever been close to had left her. All she ever got was pain. No matter, she would forget this boy very easily and would never see him again. It was a statement true to her mind but not to her heart. As she found her cave home, she laid down on her green moss bed and curled up to sleep, not knowing of what was to come. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The Forest Girl 

As the morning smell of leaves and fresh dew filled her nose, the girl rose to her feet. She loved the scent of life in the morning. Walking over to the only dark corner of her cave, she looked into a small mirror, which had a large crack running through it. It had a blue frame with many small, delicate ripples that reminded her of running water. She looked at herself as she combed her hair with a pine needle brush. This mirror was her most prized treasure. This was the only thing left of her mother, her dear, dear mother. The memory had no pictures only sounds. Her mother's voice singing that same lullaby again and again to her little baby. Brushing away the tears that had fallen on her cheek, she left to the woods to find herself some breakfast. 

The girl searched left and right but found nothing. Her stomach growled with hunger as she searched on. Suddenly, the girl saw a bush before her, ripe with berries for the picking. She smiled at her luck and began to eat the bitter-sweet berries ravenously. When she stopped the poor bush was almost completely bare, with a few branches bent. She felt sorry for the tree, wishing she weren't so clumsy as to bend the branches. Then, her throat complained to her for water so she headed off towards the pool of water she knew of. It was sparkling clear and at the bottom there was a hole. Many times she had tried to dive to the bottom and see were it lead but had never made it. As she rounded the corner, she stopped suddenly at what she saw. 

It was the boy, washing his face in the pool of water. She stayed to watch, not knowing why. She felt a strange feeling in her stomach, shrugging it off as a stomach pain from the berries. Hadn't she told herself she would forget this boy? Hadn't she learned to stay away from humans? She continued to watch even as the boy shook his head like a dog to dry off. An urge came to her to laugh that she could only reduce to soft giggles. The boy looked up at her and stared. She began to run as he shouted "Wait!". She heard his heavy footsteps following her as she ran back to her cave, wondering what had possessed her to do such a thing. 

Back in a small cave this morning . . . 

A cold morning breeze woke him like a bucket of ice water. Link woke only to rise and bump his head on the rocky ceiling of the cave. He hadn't found the girl or his way home last night and was forced to find shelter in this small, damp cave. The sun was already in the sky and he needed to start his search once more, but his pleading stomach came first. He opened the small pack he always wore and pulled out a small loaf of bread. He ate this, even though it was dry, and felt his sudden thirst. He knew where the pool from Zora's Domain was right? Link shook all the worries out of his mind as he concentrated on searching for the pool. 

There it was, as clean and cool as ever. He ran towards it and began to drink the icy liquid from his hands. Then he realized he was quite dirty from wandering around in the Lost Woods. He began to wash his face and had to shake his head to dry off. He heard a giggling in the distance and turned around to look at the girl he had met yesterday. As he stared she began to run and he called out after her "Wait!" but she paid him no mind. He was up in a flash, running after her. 

Last night a revelation came to him that this girl was indeed the girl from Zelda's vision. She was in the forest, and had green eyes and brown hair. His heart thumped as he ran faster, trying to keep up with her quickening pace. Then he lost her. He was sure she had gone through this hole but . . . where was she? Link walked around the area and found nothing except one of the gray boulders that were all over these woods. Maybe there was a hidden place in the wall, or something else of that sort. Once before, he had discovered a tiny cave ... perhaps, this girl lived in a similar one. The question was, how could he get her to come out? After thinking, he decided to hide in the entrance and wait for her to come out. He sat still, unmoving so as not to be seen. A rumbling sound reached his ears when he saw the old, gray rock roll away and the girl came out from behind it. She looked around for intruders, then began to walk away. 

Link jumped out of his hiding place and grabbed her, holding her mouth with one hand and her waist with the other. Her eyes were wide with fear until she saw him. Then, she began to kick and struggle, bitting his fingers and trying to scream for help. Link let go of her mouth as she bit him, pulled back the boulder and took her and himself inside the small cave behind it. 

Inside, the cave was pitch black and for a time neither said a word. Even though he couldn't see her, Link felt the girl's piercing stare boring into him. More silence. Cautiously, he said, "Do you have a light in here?" He had tried to speak kindly, but the girl gave him no such courtesy. "Why did you kidnap me?" she demanded of him, basically yelling at him, not answering his question. 

"I wouldn't call it . . ." he began, a bit startled at her boldness. 

"Then what would you call it? Asking me out to tea? Why did you do it anyway?" her every syllable accented with bitterness. 

"I want to talk to you about something," he said calmly, trying to make the situation go more smoothly. 

"You don't even know me! What would you, could you, possibly want to talk to me about?" her voice was shocked at first but regained its bitterness by the time she finished. 

"Will you listen to me if I tell you?" he asked quietly. 

"I will if it will make you leave," she said, her tone softening. 

"Do you know who Princess Zelda is?" he asked her, almost expecting her to say no. There was a scraping sound as sparks flew and the cave was flooded with light. The girl had used some flint and was now lighting three candles. 

"Of course I do! Do you think I'm stupid?" her face was lit by the candle light and was set in a scowl when she spoke, her eyes glaring. 

"Anyway," he continued, " she sent me on a quest because she had a vision. In it she saw a girl with green eyes and brown hair, in the forest with me." He stopped to look at the girls reaction. Link wasn't sure if he should go into detail with her just yet. Her face was expressionless. He sighed and said, "Also, she told me to find a girl without a name. She met her once and for some reason thinks she might be able to help me in my quest. Do you know her?" he asked, hoping she wasn't too confused to answer. 

"I should know her," she said, as if this were obvious, "That girl is me." She smiled at his shocked face. 

"You're the same person?" he said in disbelief, "How can that be?" 

"I don't know, but it is." She looked into his sapphire eyes, trying to find out more. "Well, if that's all, I think I'll go." She stood up and made a move towards the boulder blocking the opening. 

"There is more if you want to hear it," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. If she didn't help him how would he ever find the cure for Zelda? A tear escaped his eye, as he thought about her, unnoticed. The girl looked at him. She sighed and sat down, swiping at a fly piece of her brown hair. If he's going to cry if I don't stay, I guess I could listen for a while, she thought. 

"Before I didn't know if I should tell you this, but I suppose I have to since your so involved." This confused the girl and her face scrunched up as it always did when she was trying to think. There was a long silence between them in the candle lit room. 

"Well . . ."she said to Link, flicking his head as she spoke "Are you going to tell me the whole story?" As she said this, her left eyebrow was raised above her leafy green eyes. The boy looked at her, a bit flustered and then began to tell her the story. It took awhile for him to tell the whole story to her, as she frequently interrupted him. When he was finished the girl was sitting on the floor hugging her knees crying silently into them. Once again, he was startled to see her crying. 

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly. He looked at her again. What had he said? Why had she cried the last time? Many questions flooded through his mind about this strange girl, but he said nothing. He put a hand comfortingly on her knee. The pressure of his hand startled her and she looked up, her eyes bright with tears. She put her head back on her knees again, trying to hide her tears. Finally the girl spoke. "You just don't know . . ." she said, almost inaudible, "You just don't know . ." she repeated shaking her head. 

"Will you tell me so I can understand?" he said, urging her to tell him. Boys! she thought to herself, They can't even be in the least sympathetic, forgetting that he had just been trying to comfort her. She wiped her tear-stained cheeks, and took in a deep breath. "The thing you don't know is that . . . well, Zelda and I were . . . friends." Link stared at her in amazement. How could she be? It just wasn't possible! But the girl continued her story. "One day we met on the road as you know. She watched me as I ran, headed towards the Kokiri Forest. The next day I found her wandering the woods, looking for me as you were. I don't know why, but I went over to her. She looked up when she saw me and smiled. We began to talk and soon you would have thought we were old friends. She continued to come each day and we shared our secrets, our past memories, places we'd been, and . . ." the girl paused for a moment, stunned at herself. Why am I telling him this? I haven't ever told this to anyone. I almost told him our secret! She was ashamed of herself for doing so. "So we were best friends and now this happened . . ." Her emerald eyes became blurry with a fresh batch of tears. 

Link now felt sorry for the girl. He moved over towards her and hugged her shoulders with one arm, for comfort. Startled, the girl pulled away from him. She stood up in the cave's flickering candle light and looked at him. He was a strange boy. He wore Kokiri clothing, yet he couldn't be a Kokiri because they never grew old. His eyes were misty with past memories of pain and sorrow, things lost to the heart. She pulled herself out of this trance and thought. If we were both friends of Zelda, I suppose we might work together to help her. This time as she looked at him she spoke, "We need to leave right away." Link didn't move, then shook his head as he came out of a kind of trance too. He had been staring at her, wondering about her past, her family, and other things. He stood up, saying nothing, and began to move the boulder as the last candle flickered out. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Curiouser and Curiouser . . . . . 

As they stepped into the noonday sunlight, Link blinked his eyes. It had been quite dark in that cave, even with the candles the girl had lit. When they were both out of the cave, they walked together in silence, listening as the trees whispered about them, the birds twittering about the odd pair, and the wind whistled in their ears. The girl knew what would come if she did speak so she kept silent. In her heart she knew that she would tell him eventually. The peaceful silence of nature only lasted a mere moment to her as they walked on. Her mind full of ideas, ways to avoid telling him about her past and why she had no name. 

She knew he would ask, she didn't know how or why she knew, just that she knew it was to come. It was one of the first things people would ask her. What was she suppose to do? How long would she wait until he asked? Silence. Why didn't he ask her? She looked at him with a side-ways glance and saw that he was completely absorbed in the workings of his mind. He will ask in a few minuets, she thought. More silence. The suspense in time was almost unbearable. The silence crept on, making her feel a prickling on her neck. Why didn't he say something, anything? Weren't boys suppose to be loud and idiot like? This was the most odd boy she had ever met. 

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he finally did say something, but not what she expected. He looked at her with his twinkling blue eyes and said, "Do you have any idea where we're going?" The girl groaned, a sound loud enough for the entire forest to hear. "Is something wrong?" he asked her with a puzzled look on his face. 

"No," she lied, looking at him, trying to control her temper by smiling, which made her voice crack as they walked further on. "I thought you knew where we were going." She had to bite the inside of her cheek to not blurt out, confessing to her true rage. So he hadn't any idea where they were going or what they were looking for. "So, you don't have the slightest whim of what we might be looking for?" Her eyes were huge and green, sparkling with an inner beauty she possessed unknowingly. 

"I thought you were the one who knew," he said calmly, slowing their pace to a crawl, "Do you want to stop and talk for a while? Get to know each other, come up with a plan and the lot?" He stared at her, looking for an answer in her flushed face. 

"Fine with me," she huffed, a bit out of breath, "I could do with a rest." Her spirit was as determined as ever to help Zelda. As they sat down, she looked up at the tree they were engulfed by. It was a weeping willow tree, with long arms hanging down to dry the tears of those who cried beneath it. The leaves showed that they had been cried on, for their hue was a bit too blue for the green they should be. The tree's trunk had a few ivy vines clinging to it for what little life they held dear. The very essence of the air around her seemed to spring with life and it comforted her from all her worries, her pain, her suffering, her losses, her heartbreaks . . . The girl slipped off to the world where dreams are real, your soul is set free to be what it longs to be and go where it aches to thrive. 

Link smiled as she slept. She must have been tired from the long walk, he thought. They would just have to get to know each other later. As Link stared at her, wondering what she was dreaming as she slept there, lying on the grass, her hair flowing neatly around her. Then his eyes grew wide as the vines from the tree . . . no. His eyes were playing tricks on him, yet had the vines been moving? He began to look away and think about what was real and soon found himself dozing in the fading sun. 

-*-*-*-*- 

A rustle could be heard as the boy and girl slept on into the moonlight, unaware of the world around them, caught in the web of dreams . . . perhaps even enchanted dreams. Slowly, as a snake, a lone vine slithered off the tree it clung to and reached out for the girl. It felt a radiance around her, life pouring out of her, beckoning it towards her. The vine happily wrapped itself around the slender arm lying on the ground in the dewy grass. Another felt the warmth and left the tree as well, holding on to the fragile leg, not far from the many others who followed the greeting of life. 

-*-*-*-*- 

The light was of green warmth inside the tree's shady branches. It was a color meant for a moment of joy, of mirth yet it was not here for that reason. The girl woke gasping for breath. She felt a squeeze on her neck growing tighter and tighter as she tried to sit up. Nothing happened. She tried again and felt a million gentle, yet strong ropes holding her down as she struggled for her every breath. Her eyes shot open and her mouth opened in a scream at what she saw. 

Her entire body was covered in the green ivy vines from the sobbing tree, squeezing out her essence, her life, her soul. The girl tried to scream again but no sound escaped her mouth for vines had covered her small pink lips. They were alive! Crawling on her body, pulling out . . . out . . . her! She felt weak as the ivy took over. She looked up at the sky, hoping for it to be a beautiful last sight but instead saw something that made her soul flare up with hope. It was the boy cutting at the vines around her. His blade was hacking at them and they seemed to be fighting back, trying to mend their severed parts. The girl's sea green eyes were wide with fear as she looked at the boy. He saw her and gave her a look of pity as he continued to slice the vines that engulfed her. 

This was the last she saw of the mysterious battle, as the growing vines crept over her eyelids. Her nose filled with the sweet smell of life that the vines gave off. They seemed to be hugging her rather than squeezing her, as a small child might do when their father or mother must leave them. She heard the voice of the green spirit, crying out with pain as the blonde boy cut off its end. It yelled a fierce war cry and slashed at his leg, where many others had done the same, leaving a deep mark on his leg. 

Then, the revelation came to her like a slap on the face, but how and why it came she never knew. The ivy was her friend, she could talk to it, control it! The thought gave her energy as she tried to make the ivy move. Her mind focused on the vines over her face. If she could tell the boy to stop she could make the ivy leave her imprisoned body and return to the tree. To her own astonishment the vines did listen to her and they moved. 

"Stop!" she yelled and the boy turned around. His face wore an expression that told her he thought she was crazy. "I can't!" he said, still cutting, the screaming vines, "If I don't, these vines will . . ." 

"You don't understand! Listen to me. You're hurting them! If you stop, I can make them leave without force!" Her voice was faint as she struggled to keep them away from her mouth, "You must trust me!" The boy looked as if he was about to loose a good friend, but backed away and sat down watching with painful horror on his face. 

Alright, thought the girl, commanding squadrons as she spoke, Now lets move back to the tree. She focused her mind on the image of the tree, it's wonderful smell, the golden wood, the inner life it held waiting for them. Slowly, the vines one by one sensed it and moved back to the tree. Some of the stronger, older ivy stayed on her, clinging to her outstretched limbs. "I said get going!" her voice more commanding. Her green eyes pierced the vines as they pridefully moved back towards the tree. 

The girl smiled at her success, as she felt a wave a dizziness and exhaustion wash over her boundaries. She collapsed on the grass, her body as well as her mind weak from the effort. How had she known what to do? Where had the power come from? Her mind was trying to make sense of it all as the boy gently picked her up and carried her away from the vines. Her eyes were closed and she left them that way, her body weak from . . . from . . . what she had just done. The boy looked at her curiously. She was an odd person, a very odd person indeed. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Consciousness. Where was she? How had she gotten here? The girl opened her eyes to a blazing light and tried to sit up, but immediately laid back down. She was sore and stiff all over, and moving wasn't the best idea right now. She stared at the room around her. It was a small room made of sticks of all shapes and sizes and there was a small window letting in the last of the days light onto her bed. The roof was pointed, with plants and animal hides hanging from it to dry. The smoke from a smoldering fire beneath it escaped through a hole in the top. There were shelves upon shelves covering the walls. On top of them, were bottles. Some were round and squat, while others were long and curvy. Some held powders and others held slimy looking liquids. On a particularly dusty shelf a large bottle held a creature of some sort. It had huge eyes and looked to be a frog of some sort. It continued to stare at her, as she turned away from the bulgy eyed monster. 

As the girl continued to become familiar with her surroundings, she heard gentle footsteps approaching her. This startled her, for she wasn't accustomed to being around people. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She heard voices as the footsteps got closer and recognized one of them as the boy and the other was hardly audible to her. I really need to ask that boy what his name is, she thought as they began to walk in the room through the creaky door. 

"Is she . . . is she going to be alright?" the boy asked the other voice. To her great surprise, his voice was wavering and had a hint of worry to it. Why should he be worried? He has no reason to. We're not friends . . . Her thoughts were stopped abruptly by a pang in her stomach as she thought this. Some part of her would not let her think this and she had no idea why. 

"She will be just fine, my boy," said an old, low male voice, "She's been beaten up pretty bad from what happened in the woods but if she rests you can be on your way in a matter of days." 

"That's alright. It won't matter much since I have been here for three days alre . . ." 

"THREE DAYS!!!" It was the girl. She had bolted up out of the bed and blurted out her thoughts before she could stop herself. The elderly man looked at her and smiled a surprisingly white smile. 

"Well, I see you have your strength back." The girl looked him over. He was a short man with bushy white eyebrows and a long beard that trailed onto the floor. His bald head was shiny and his crooked nose was mounted with a pair of gold framed glasses. He had laughing eyes the color of fire. As the girl stared at him she yelped as she felt a pinch on her cheek. She whirled around to see the boy leaning back to miss her swipe at him. 

"I see you two get along very nicely." His eyes, despite their color, were very friendly and intriguing. The girl discontinued her pursuit and went over to the man. She opened her mouth to speak, but the man had read her mind. "My name is Erdwick, Erdwick Baggins, the healer." She was shocked that he had read her mind. The boy was grinning at her. He had been quite surprised himself when he had done it to him as well. She continued to her other questions, as a way of breaking the unearthly silence. "I don't mean to be rude, but what am I doing here?" The question seemed friendly enough but the man frowned at her. 

"If you mean how you got here, this young man brought you here and I treated your wounds. Other reasons I can not explain to your impervious mind right now." 

"Now wait just one minuet," the boy was now looking quite confused. "I brought her here for help. What other reasons?" He looked a bit furious at the man for not telling him this. 

"Alas, you too are not ready for the answers I have to give." The man walked to the door and said, not turning around to face them, "I will prepare supper for us. You two have some things to catch up on, I suppose." And then he shut the door, leaving them alone in the room 

The girl decided it was best to start sooner than later. "Well, I do have a few questions. I should have asked you this long ago, but what is you name?" She had been waiting to ask him this for days. 

"It's Link," he said offhandedly, waving his hand, "I suppose you want to know all about me as well?" he questioned her with one eye, waiting to tell her he was the Hero of Time and see her shocked expression of disbelief. 

"No not really," she said, not interested at all. 

The boy was quite offended at this, but remained silent. 

"What I really want to know is what happened after I . . . well, . . . collapsed." She would not admit that she had fainted to anyone. 

"Not much. I carried you here to this place, Erdwick healed you and then I've been here for the last three days waiting for you to wake up." At this, the girl flushed with embarrassment. She was annoyed at herself for this but her questions continued. "How do you know Erdwick?" 

"Actually, I don't," said Link, his head turned away, "I was a bit frantic and this was the first place I found." The girl's mouth was open in disbelief. 

"Are you telling me you . . . you left me in the hands of a total stranger? And you trusted him?" Her eyes were shooting sparks at him. 

"What did you want me to do? Let you die? I saved your life! You should be at least a bit grateful . . ." 

"Grateful!?!" the girl said, her voice full of shock, "Grateful? Why should I be grateful to you? I was the one who saved us! If you had kept killing those vines . . . " but she stopped and took a long breath. All her hate washed away in a few moments. Once again, some part of her would not let her hate him. A long silence went between them, until Link broke the silence. 

"How did you stop those vines anyway?" his voice a bit awed with wonder. She had been thinking about the same thing herself. Slowly she answered, her voice no more than a whisper, "I don't know. I just . . . it was . . ." she stopped lost in bewilderment. How had she done it? "I just sort of knew what to do." She looked at him. His face looked very confused, as confused as she was inside. 

"Well, can I ask you a few questions?" he said, sort of solemnly. 

"That depends." she said pulling up her defense wall. Here it came. The thing she had been waiting for. "Alright," she said slowly, "What are they?" 

"Why don't you have a name?" said Link, his voice full of curiosity. The girl sighed, shaking her head. 

"It's a long story," said the girl, her voice trembling a bit. 

"I have time," he said with curiosity, ignoring her saddening expression. Then she began her story, but that can wait for another time . . . . 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Wind Chime and the Pictures 

"Do you want to know that or my whole story?" asked the girl, regretting giving him this choice. 

"If you don't mind, I suppose I want the whole story," voiced Link, excited to hear what she was, where she was from. 

"Well," she said, trying to keep her voice confident and strong, "I suppose it all began when I was born ---" 

"Yes, a person's life usually does begin when they are born," Link commented. She took a swipe at him. 

"Shut up you! Do you want me to tell you or not?" She took his silence for a yes. 

" As I was saying, I was born in Hyrule Castle Town on the eighteenth of May. I was told that my mother wanted my father to name me. Every name my father wished to give me, mother didn't like. Finally, he gave up trying to find me a name. 

"Then one day my mother became very sick and my father tended her all through the night, but she died on the next day." The girl was trying to force out these painful memories, not even that but the loss of her mother's gentle voice. That was all she could remember of her mother, that one sweet lullaby. Quickly, she brushed the tears off her white cheeks and continued. 

"My father never named me after that, because he didn't want to upset my mother's soul. He always called me 'my little missy' since I didn't have a name. Then when I was eight, my father decided to take me hunting with him and . . ." her voice stopped, running into silence. The memory of that hunting trip was almost too painful for her to speak of. The girl was now crying into her knees, trying to stop but the tears came flooding out. She hadn't cried when it happened, she hadn't cried after it, so why was she crying now? 

Link was quite startled. Once again she was crying. It was something that didn't seem right for her; it was unnatural. She didn't have a mother either. At least she had a father, he thought. He pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. The girl didn't notice. She just kept on crying, her whole body shaking with grief. What was he going to do? 

Finally, he said quietly, "If you don't want to tell me what happened, I understand." The girl looked up. His face was soft with expression, and sympathy. There also was a pain hidden in it that made it seem that . . . that he knew what it was like. The girl took the handkerchief from his hand and began to dry her sea green eyes. "Thanks," she said wearily, almost inaudible. She got up and moved towards the door. 

"Wait," Link said, seizing her hand. It felt warm to the touch, yet she pulled away from it's inviting secureness. "I'm really sorry that your mother died. I know what it's like. I . . . I don't have a mother either," She looked at the boy with new found compassion. When she had first seen him, she had seen many losses and suffering in his eyes. Link must have been through a lot of things to have so much pain. She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment Erdwick came in. They turned around to face the little man. 

He said, "Well now, I suppose you're done talking?" They nodded at him silently. "Now," said the little man, " would either of you like some supper?" The girl hadn't realized that she had been hungry until her stomach let out a long low growl. Erdwick smiled at her, his almost too white smile. "I guess that answers my question." Then they left the hut through another door the girl hadn't noticed before. It was as if it wasn't even there until Erdwick had opened it. 

The door led on into a small corridor, with many pictures hanging on the walls. The girl was interested in everyone of them and was looking at a portrait of fat man in a bathtub, when she saw a picture that stopped her in her tracks. It was a picture of a young girl, about ten. Her eyes were green as the sea and somehow seemed strangely familiar. Her hair was a golden, sunlight blonde and her smile was perfect, gleaming with an inner radiance. She was standing beside a tree, a weeping willow. 

When she had stopped to look at the picture, Link had bumped into her. "Will you watch it?" he said irritably, looking to see why she had stopped. He gasped. Link's gaze went from the picture, to the girl, then back again. "Who is that? Do you know her?" The girl gave no reply, but stared steadily on, looking at the girl's face, in a wondering, questioning way. 

Erdwick had turned around to see why they were so far behind. That's when he saw it. The picture they were looking at. His face a bit wild with fear, he ran towards them and pushed the two dazed figure towards the open doorway ahead. 

"Erdwick, who was that girl, with the green eyes?" asked Link, curiosity invading him. 

"Just one of my patients," he answered gruffly, not meeting either of their gazes. 

"But I think I've seen her before," began the protesting girl, "I just know I've seen her . . ." 

"It is of no consequence . . ." 

"But surely, she does look like . . ." said the boy earnestly. 

"Now is not the time, boy!" His ruby eyes were now a blazing fire, unlike their usual twinkle. On they walked, in silence until they came to the door. 

As they walked into the room, the portrait of the girl was blown from her mind. The room was much more civilized than the last. It was made of stone, with a small fire place at the side. A small stove was stationed in the corner with a pot, sending out a smell, most glorious. In the center, was a small round table, set for three with blue china dishes. There was a small window, with white curtains in them. This room had fewer shelves, only these held little trinkets on them. A silver bell, five wooden flutes, a figurine of a dancer, a tin soldier, a stuffed lion. 

But what intrigued her most was a small, glass wind chime. All the glasses were different colors, yet clear all the same, as if stained by a rainbow. The wind blew softly in through the curtains, making the chime sing. It was the most beautiful sound that had ever met her ears and it seemed to make a tune. It was her mother's lullaby, her lullaby! She began humming it softly, closing her eyes, to remember an old memory in time. Then the music stopped. She opened her eyes in time to see Erdwick setting it gently in a drawer. She didn't want to irritate the little man further, for he was already upset. Then, he gestured for them to sit down. 

During the meal, she couldn't eat a thing. She sat there, pushing her food around her plate, her mind trying to remember. Finally, the meal was over. "Would you like to go to bed now? You've had quite a long day and you'll need your rest." The girl suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness roll over her. Erdwick ushered them into yet another hall from a hidden door. This hallway had fewer pictures than the last, but nothing that caught her eye. 

Erdwick opened the door, revealing two four-poster beds, with thick patchwork quilts covering them and violet curtains. Exhausted from the day and the event three days ago, the girl collapsed onto the springy mattress, falling asleep instantly. 

Link stared at her figure, slipping off the bed. Smiling at her, he gently picked her up and laid her back on her bed, the covers strewn over her. Then, yawning thickly, he slumped over to his own bed, the last audible sound he heard was scrapping. This made him a bit curious. Hadn't Erdwick gone to bed as well? Whatever he was doing was probably not very important. He laid back to let sleep take him away, but it never came. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Erdwick crept noiselessly along the corridor, a lantern in one hand, a brown, wooden box in the other. He opened the door to the first hall they had been in. He quickly took down the picture of the blonde girl and another picture opposite it, with a young boy of thirteen in it. His eyes were a glaring green, his hair a rich shade of auburn. Moving along, he entered his dining room. Slowly, he pulled the scraping drawer out and pulled out the wind chime. So many days had passed since . . . now was not the time ,though, to think of such things. Closing the crate, he shuffled back to his room and fell asleep, just as the first cuccos crowed at the morning light. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Waking to a cuccos' crow, the brown haired girl sat up. Her body was still quite weak, so she moved slowly, stealthy across the room. She creaked open the door and went down the hall to the dining room. She quickly, eagerly opened the drawer, but the chime wasn't there. She was sure he had left it inside this drawer. Well, maybe she should go and take another look at that picture of the girl. 

Curiously, she scanned the other wall, looking for the doorway. After feeling around for what seemed like hours, she found a small crevice in it and pulled it open. She crept down the hall to look at the picture of the blond girl but . . . it was gone! Another picture was missing just opposite it on the wall. Where was it? And the wind chime? Something odd was going on. 

Questions flew through her head like birds. She walked slowly back to bed, braiding her long, thick hair. She opened the door and sighed to see that the boy, er, Link, wasn't awake yet. 

She flopped onto her bed and sighed, looking at her velvet curtains, thinking about where the pictures might be. Who had taken them, anyway? 

"I suppose you went and saw the pictures?" came a voice out of the lightening darkness. She sat up and whirled around to see Link, sitting cross-legged at the head of her bed, grinning at her. 

"And what are you doing on my bed?" she asked him, suspiciously. 

"Just waiting for you to come back from you early morning prowl," said the boy, lazily. "But you did go to see the picture didn't you?" She nodded her answer, a bit reluctantly. She still didn't trust this boy, even if he wasn't quite as mean as she had thought him to be. 

"How did you know I went to see the picture?" 

"Easy. I followed you." He looked happily into her annoyed face. 

"And why did you do that?" Her temper was rising degree, by degree. 

"I was bored. I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I was up when you, oh so silently crept out of the room." The girl noted the sarcasm in his voice and loathed it. 

"Are you trying to tell me your any better at it? Sneaking around?" she looked him over to see that he didn't even seem in the slightest insulted, but thrilled. 

"I'll show you," he retorted, leaping off the bed, yet making not a sound. He walked across the room and back without the slightest bit of noise. Then he leapt back on the bed and it didn't move at all. 

"How did you do that?" asked the girl, clearly amazed by this. "I would never have guessed from all the racket you made in the forest." 

"Are you challenging me?" his voice hinted while he began to chuckle. "To a battle of silence? For if you did, I most certainly would win." 

"No," she said casually, fluffing her pillow, "I'm challenging you to a pillow fight!" And in a flash, she was spanking him with her pillow, as he ducked behind the night stand. 

"This is unfair! I haven't got a weapon," he said rolling away from her next attack. 

"Exactly," she called, throwing her pillow in a true hit, but Link had gotten to his bed and was grabbing his pillow, blocking her attacks. She whirled around as she swung a hard blow and missed. He took the advantage and began beating her with his pillow as she fell to the floor, starting to laugh. 

The fight continued until a very grumpy, tiered looking Erdwick came into the room with striped flannel pajamas on. He stood there for a moment watching the fight, that was now a tickling war, with amusement. Then, he cleared his throat, announcing his presence. The two feather covered teenagers looked up at him. Link's pillow had burst open, turning the room into a winter wonderland, and covering everything in feathers. 

The girl got up, brushing the feathers off her clothes and hair, not noticing the one stuck to her flushed cheek. Her once braided hair was a mess of flyaway brown. Link was by far worse. He looked like a bird himself, getting the full blast of the pillow. He spit feathers out of his mouth and sneezed some off of his face. They both stood there in front of the little man, giggling and pulling off feathers. Erdwick didn't seem very upset with them, for his eyes once again twinkled with their merriment. 

"I suppose you both know who will be cleaning up this mess, don't you?" he smiled at them wickedly. 

"But . . ." began a desperate Link. 

"No, no, no my boy. You have made the mayhem and will therefore be responsible for it. Then you two can be on your way. I see no reason for this young lady to stay any longer." He left them to their work, closing the door. 

"Well, isn't this lovely," grumbled a feathery Link, "It wasn't our fault the pillow burst." He began to gather up the loose feathers in the useless pillow case. 

"Well, there's no reason to grumble about it. It won't make the work go any faster. And what did he mean there's no reason for us to stay anymore? He said we were here for more reasons than for him to heal me, right? And he certainly should tell us about those pictures and the wind chime he hid." She seemed to think that all this was obvious, but Link looked a bit surprised. 

"Are you suggesting that . . . that Erdwick took those things? But their his! Why would he take them?" Link trusted Erdwick and didn't want to think this. 

"He's keeping something from us. And I for one want to know what it is!" The girl said this very determinedly, as she ground feathers into Link's face. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

What's in a Dream? 

After cleaning up the feather coated room, Link and the girl went out to breakfast. Erdwick was already sitting there, eating a poached egg. The two of them sat down without a word and were silent for most of the meal. They had decided to ask Erdwick about what was going on if he was in a better mood. They were waiting for him to make the first move, to start the conversation. 

"Well now," he said, standing up, "I suppose you two need to be on your way, continuing your quest, no doubt?" He seemed completely unaware of their disbelieving stares. The girl shot Link a look to tell him to keep silent while she talked to him. 

"Um, Erdwick?" she said a bit shyly, "Can I ask you a question?" 

"Why of course, my dear, anything and I'll answer as best I can." He sounded quite delighted that she was asking him a question. 

"Remember when I first woke up and you were talking to us?" He nodded at the memory of it, his composure flickering. "Well, you said we were . . . were here for more reasons than for you to heal me, right?" At this Erdwick began to frown, his forehead becoming a hill of wrinkles. "Yes, I did say that now didn't I. But now is not the time . . ." 

"Then when?" interrupted the girl, "When? You can't send us away without telling us!" The boy nodded his head in agreement with her. 

"I can not tell you. There are too many things you don't know yet and . ." 

"So why don't you explain them to us? It . . ." 

"I will not answer that question at the present time!" he bellowed, silencing both of them. "If you have less prying questions, I may answer them." 

"You know that picture of the blond girl in the hall we were looking at?" Link spoke this time, "It's gone as well as the one opposite it, not to mention the wind chime and . . ." Erdwick chuckled a bit and they were both glad to see he was lightening up. 

"I can see you are not to be strayed from the truth," he said, his voice weary. "This is probably going to be much harder on you, dear girl. I do not wish to cause you any pain, but this might do just that." She stared at him and wondered how the pictures and wind chime disappearing could possibly hurt her. Yet, if the wind chime was related to her mother ... that melody ... "No child," said Erdwick, "It isn't about them disappearing. It's about the people in them." Once again she jumped as he read her mind. "Wait here while I fetch them." He said quickly as he swept out of the room. 

"So it was him. He took them!" exclaimed Link, excitedly, "I knew it was him." The girl ignored his fake triumph as she wondered how this involved her. 

"Alright," called Erdwick, bustling in with a small wooden crate, "Here are the pictures and the wind chime." He opened the crate for them to look inside. 

On the top was the picture of the blonde girl. Next to it, was the beautiful clear glass, wind chime. Erdwick took this out and held it close to him for a moment, then hung it back in the window where it played the girl's lullaby. Beneath it was another picture, this one of a boy in his early teens with green eyes and auburn hair. He too seemed familiar and the girl gasped when the realization came to her of who this was. "How . . . do you . . . is he really?" the girl's voice rising into a squeak of excitement. 

"Yes, he is dear girl." He smiled kindly into her teary eyes. 

"Who is he?" said a bewildered Link, "I don't recognize him." 

"And you shouldn't," said the girl looking at him, her emerald eyes twinkling with mingling tears. "This boy is . . . is my father." She turned back looking longingly, almost hungrily at the picture. Link was speechless. Her father? But she looked at the picture as if her were . . . Then it hit him. Her father had been killed on that hunting trip she couldn't tell him about. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him for being jealous of her. 

"Yes, it is your father, quite a handsome young lad too. If you don't want to hear the story I'll understand." he said, hoping he wouldn't have to. 

"Of course I do," said the girl, drying her eyes, "I want to know everything." She looked at Erdwick with pleading eyes. 

"Alright," he said grimly, clearing his throat. "It all begins with a young girl named Cordelia. Cordelia was a happy child in her youth. She had many friends and was loved by everyone. You would think that she was a normal girl, but she was not. Cordelia held a magic within her, so strong that at birth it almost killed her. . . ." but he was interrupted by Link. 

"What does this little girl have to do with anything?" he said a bit doubtful of Erdwick. 

"She is part of this story and very important to this story as well." He gave Link a look to silence him, but it didn't stop the talkative boy. 

"Is she the girl in the picture?" he questioned him, while the girl tried to signal him to be quiet. 

"Yes, and now will you please be quiet and not interrupt my story further?" Link sank down in his seat and was silent. "Now where was I . . . oh yes, Cordelia . . . 

"She learned the ways of magic with great determination. Pouring over spell books, practicing the pronunciation of magic words, and helping her father. He was also blessed with the gift of magic. When she was fifteen, she had learned all there was to learn from her father and was even greater than he was. 

"While she was growing up, she had a very good friend named Wesley." He paused to look at the girl, who gave no sign of emotion except in her twinkling green eyes. "He was a bright boy and was a few years older than her, but they were friends nonetheless. When she had turned thirteen, he gave her this wind chime, made it himself I think. She was delighted with it and enchanted it to always sing her special song. 

"Later on, they grew up and got married. When they had been married for a year Cordelia decided to tell Wesley that she had magic. He also ended up having magic in him, so it was just a great relief to them both. And then, they had a little girl, you my dear." 

Link gaped. This was all too much for him to handle right now. "What? Does this mean that she . . . she has . . ." 

"Yes, boy she does have magic in her. That is what saved you from those vines, as well as attracted them to you." 

"But how did I do that?" said the girl, thinking out loud, puzzled. 

"Your parents both had a green magic in them, therefore the green eyes. Your magic type shows in your eye. The vines came to you because they sensed your earth magic. You let loose uncontrolled magic and they came to soak it up. If you'd had the proper training, this would not have happened. Does that make sense to you?" The girl thought about this for a moment. She didn't understand this, but decided not to go too far into the subject. She nodded. "Well, now that's a load off my mind." He began to get up, but the girl pulled him back. 

"Erdwick, how do you know so much about all my parents?" She thought this was a fair question to ask of him and Erdwick just smiled his almost too white smile. 

"Yes, I suppose you have been wondering that. Well, the thing is that . . . I'm your grandfather." She stared, looking at Erdwick, as a relative now, not some old healer. In these past days she had learned the more about her family then she ever had. It was wonderful to have family. Then she looked back into his eyes, his blazing red eyes. "Do you have fire magic?" she asked him with a more confident voice. He chuckled. 

"I see you're very attentive. And yes, I do. It was a surprise your mother had earth magic. No one in our family has for generations." 

"Thanks," she said quietly. 

"For what?" he said amused, "I did nothing." 

"For telling me about my family." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. She stood up, pushing in her chair. "We had better get on our way, and . . ." 

"Wait," said her grandfather, pulling out a simple brown leather knapsack. "I want you to take these." Inside the bag were the two pictures and the wind chime. 

"No, I couldn't . . ." she began, trailing off as she held the knapsack. 

"Take it. I have the memories." He forced the knapsack into her hands. 

"Won't the wind chime break?" she said worriedly, as she placed it on her back. At this, Erdwick laughed. 

"Do you think it was magic for nothing? Now, off you trot." And he pushed them both through the doorway. 

"I'll miss you," whispered the girl, giving Erdwick one last hug. Now that she had family, she didn't want to lose them. 

"Staying only makes the goodbye harder," he choked through forced back tears. "We'll meet again." Then the girl turned to leave with Link, blotchy faced and sad, while Erdwick was the same, waving their last goodbye. 

They walked into the woods, still having no idea what they were trying to find. Link had been strangely silent. 

"Link, why are you being so quiet?" she asked looking over at him. His mouth was set in a firm strait line, unmoving, while his sapphire eyes were pleading with her. "Oh, what is it?" she said impatiently, as he continued to stare at her, his face unchanging. "Well, you don't have to be rude!" 

They continued on through the forest, as it prepared for evening. Link's mouth was still set in a line and his eyes were now downcast. After an hour of time had past, Link gasped loudly and said, "Finally!" The girl gave him a queer look, so he explained. 

"Your grandfather made me to be quiet, just like he said. I couldn't open my mouth!" Link didn't ever get the sympathetic response he had hoped for. Instead, he received a fountain of laughter from the girl. She laughed and laughed as they continued to walk, with Link turning a bit crimson. 

It was steadily growing darker and darker, as night crept over them. They decided to rest for the night on a large flat rock (far away from any plants). They both laid down on the rocks, the girl staring up into the openness of the heavens. She always loved stars and she loved finding the constellations she knew. First, she spotted Din, she was always the first one she found. Then, Nayru and Gompa the Goron, Lady Zelda, Crying Kokiri, Farore, The Geredu Staff, Leaping Zora, the Triforce and even the cow eating grass. 

"I don't know what to do now," said Link, obviously frustrated, "we still don't know what we're looking for." The girl shifted uncertainly on the rock. She had almost forgotten of their quest and was ashamed for it. Also, Zelda had thought she could help, but had she so far? What could she possibly do that would help them? 

"Let's go to sleep and get some rest before tomorrow." She wiggled on the rock, trying to get comfortable. Link sighed, not feeling up to an argument right then, and rolled over on his half of the rock. He fell asleep instantly, as a misty haze settled over them, clouding out the stars. 

"If only I had a clue," she said for the fifth time, watching the stars slowly fade away. "If only I had a clue . . . . . . " she whispered a last time as sleep overcame her. The night time mist, moved on. 

-*-*-*-*- 

She was flying! Through a mist . . . . a mist of . . . green, yes green! She was in the Lost Woods, and she was flying! It felt wonderful, the wind sweeping her off her feet, her hair billowing behind her. She felt weightless, careless, nothing in the world could pull her down. She looked at the forest bellow her, so green and sweet, her home. She swept past it, as she tried to turn but couldn't, she wasn't in control! The feeling of freeness was quickly gone and a replacement, one of terror, washed over her. 

The wind was carrying her, carrying her where? Over the lush greenness of the Lost woods, over the happy springtime of Hyrule field, over the busy crowds in Hyrule Castle Town, past the joking guards protecting the castle, to the garden, her garden, Zelda's garden, and the secret rock was still there! The wind set her down and she sprinted towards it. 

She removed the patch of moss on the stone and pressed her hand to the violet gem beneath. Slowly it moved, inching along the ground, as it revealed the stairs beneath it, winding down. She ran down the steps, the lamps for some reason already lit. It was silent. She reached the bottom of the stairs to their cozy little room, the fireplace alight, but by who? The girl looked around, seeing no one until her eyes saw her on the bed. 

"Zelda!" she screamed as she ran to the girl's side. Her limp arm held out a blue and violet flower with seven petals. Her face was still and pale as the girl wept on her, crying for her friend. Slowly, her eyes began to flutter and her face became flushed with color. The girl looked up and saw Zelda open her eyes, looking at the green once facing her. "You must . . "she said softly, " . . .you must find it . . ." 

"Find what?" said the girl, trying to stay calm, not letting her tears interfere " what must I find?" 

"The scroll . . . . . the forbidden ones . . . . find them!" Zelda's voice was almost inaudible before she finished and her eyes closed for a final time. 

"No," said the girl, standing up, her voice quivering, "No, I won't . . .I can't . . . ." She began to back up, towards the stairs, towards happiness. "NO!!!!!" she screamed, as she ran up the stairs, tripping on her own feet. "NO!!!!!!!!" and this time was the last. She lay on the ground, her pants and shirt torn from her tripping, her eyes full of tears and fear. . . . . . . . 

-*-*-*-*- 

"No, no, I won't do it! I can't! No, NO!!!!" she screamed,, wailing her agony, "No!!!!!!" Someone was holding her down, forcing her. She struggled against the force, hearing a faint voice. "NOO!!!!!!" she screamed again, the intruder shaking her saying, "Wake up, wake up!" 

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Link staring down at her, trying to hold her arms down. "Sshhhh," he said softly, "Your alright. it was only a nightmare." But it wasn't, she had wanted to say, it was real. "A sign," she whispered, not aware that Link was still there, "It was a sign, I have to go there." 

"Go where?" said Link softly, trying not to sound interested and trying to comfort her. 

"To the ancient ones, their ruins, their old temple. . . . " she paused, choking on her tears and the lump in her throat. "For the forbidden scrolls . . ." 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Ancient Evil Get Thee Hence   
  


The girl sat on the stone platform, thinking about what the dream had asked. Find the forbidden scrolls . . . why? Zelda had always told her to face her fears and now she wished she had. She sighed as a gray fog began to roll in around her. The sun was slowly rising in the sky, blotted out by the fogginess. Why, oh, why did she have to do this? And Zelda was not there to help her through it! How small she felt, wishing she could just bawl like a small child. At least she didn't have to go all alone. 

She looked over at Link and snorted. He was one of the oddest people she had ever met. He was . . . well, it was hard to say. Link was plenty good with a sword, which he had demonstrated on two separate occasions. He was quite handsome, even if he was an annoying brat at times. Yet his eyes had seen too much pain for a youth like him. He began to mumble something like "At it . . at it . . . at it . ." 

She let loose some giggles. One good thing about him was he made her laugh once in a while, making her happy. The sun was rising higher and she decided it a good time to wake him. She softly kissed him on the cheek. Nothing. A bit offended, she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. He winced and rolled over, still unconscious. This time she kicked him over onto his face. As a small rock scratched his nose, he woke. He sat up and rubbed the abused spot. "What are you trying to do?" he demanded, not knowing that she had kissed him. 

"Getting you up," she said, silently adding, What else? He scowled at her. 

"Well, next time don't be so rough," he said stretching. 

"Fine. But for now we need to get going." Link moaned. He still thought that this was a crazy idea, going to the palace and all. And what if that boulder had been moved? Well, at least they had some idea of what they were doing now. He got up and followed her.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


Link walked up towards the main gate of the palace. Darn, he thought. Jack was the nicest guard, didn't ask too many questions, and always let Link in, no problem. Today, there was another guard and from the looks of him, he wasn't very nice. Oh, well. Just why today? He continued forward, the guard taking no notice, when he was jerked back by a small hand. 

"What do you think your doing?" demanded the green eyed girl. She pulled Link around a corner by a large, thick vine crawling up the wall. 

"Asking the guard to open the gate, what else?" He stared at her, as if she were a foreigner. 

"You don't just expect the guard to let you in, do you? Who do you think you are? The king or something?" She began to climb the vines. Link followed, only to oblige her. When they reached the top, her pulled her down onto the lush grass. 

"Why can't we just use the gate?" he asked her, "I never use this way anymore." Her mouth dropped open, and she looked stunned. 

"You use the gate?" she said, after a very awkward pause. 

"Of course, didn't you?" Then it hit him. Of course! he said, mentally slapping himself. Zelda's parent's wouldn't want her being with commoners. This last comment made him smile. He used to be, before he saved Hyrule. "They never knew, did they?" he said quietly. "Her parents? You snuck behind their backs for years?" She nodded, looking very curious. 

"And you didn't?" 

"Well," he paused, looking away. At first he had wanted to tell her all about how he was the Hero of Time and had saved Hyrule. Now for some reason, he didn't want to. "I was sent here before we became friends." At least he was telling the truth. The Great Deku Tree had sent him here. 

"Why?" This was going to hurt. How could he tell her that the person she thought just to be another commoner was really the hero of this land? She had to know. Yet, something was dragging him back. 

"I was called here to save Hyrule," he blurted out before he could stop himself. For a moment she looked as if she hadn't heard what he'd said. Then her brilliant green eyes opened in surprise. 

"Y-y-y-ou . . . .what?" she said, spluttering. She remained silent as she stared at him, looking him over. "How? Is this your idea of a joke?" Link shook his head slightly. "But th-that's just impossible!" 

"No, it isn't," said Link soothingly, " I am the Hero of Time." She laughed. He actually expected her to believe that?!? What kind of a nut was he anyway? The Hero of Time was said to be a man, who had saved all of Hyrule. One being to hold the Courage of the Triforce, to hold the Ocarina of Time, to hold the . . . she froze as a long blade was held within an inch of her nose. 

She looked up to see Link, holding it out to her. He was staring at the uppermost end of it, close to the handle. Her green eyes followed where his went and she saw it. The mark of the Triforce. The design was cut so perfectly, so smooth, so . . . elegantly that it wasn't earthly or manmade. Only the Hero of Time could wield it. Only Link . . . . . . . . 

She looked up into his eyes and saw, not a hero, but a friend. "So you are," she murmured. Link nodded and sheathed his sword again. The girl stood up very slowly, and they began to climb down the vines, Link strolling along and his friend in a half daze.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


"I just can't believe it," she said, "I mean, I have been traveling with the Hero of Time!" Link had been telling her about all of his adventures in Hyrule, and about, well, his whole life. She was quite amazed at everything her had done, risking his life for Hyrule. Over all she was astonished, but not enough to treat him differently. 

After that, they went to see their majesties and tell them what they had found out. Or rather, Link told them and the name-less girl stood shyly in the corner, watching and smiling when mentioned. By the time this was done, it was dark and the queen was sending servants to prepare rooms for their guests and bring them some supper. 

The girl was so fascinated by the room, that she hadn't time to snap at the servants, as they helped her into a light cotton night gown. The bed was so soft! She had never had this much comfort in her life. The room was very tall and roomy. A window was open letting a cool breeze pass the translucent curtains. There was a small dresser with a wash basin and pitcher, a wardrobe of clothes and . . . a shelves upon shelves of books! She ran over to them and began rummaging through the shelves for a likely title. 

In the little time she had had her father, he had taught her to read. Books were so wonderful and fascinating to her. Her favorite had been about a deadly pirate in search of a buried treasure on the island Gosume, and he had found a race of people, hidden under a waterfall with all of the treasure. Her hand passed an old brown book in a language foreign to her. 

As she flipped the pages, she saw pictures of fantastical creatures, some of which Link had tried to describe to her. Absorbed, she sat on the bed, looking at the pictures over and over again. A very ghostly looking creature that was holding a lantern, a cylinder of oily-colored goop, a Wolfos she recognized, and a strange creature that had a very commanding gaze. It was like the shadow of a horse, a horn on top that shone blue, yet it's body was black and misty, almost not there, and eyes that were a menacing violet. Her eyes slowly drooped as she kept staring at the creature, wondering what it could be.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


Link woke from a very peaceful dream. Then, he looked outside and almost keeled over. The sun was up and going for noonday. He quickly pulled on his freshly-cleaned tunic and ran to the dining room, where he hoped there was still some breakfast. 

He entered the room and found the king and queen talking to a very pretty young girl. It took him a while to realize that this was his new friend. Link had never seen her wear a dress, for one thing. And her hair had been done in a braid, twined with gold ribbon, flowing over her hair. He gaped at her, his mouth hanging open. 

The king was the first to notice he had entered the room. "Well, don't just stand there like a codfish boy! Come over here and get some food in you." Link slowly sat down next to his transformed friend. She seemed a bit nervous and agitated from the look on her face. I suppose she doesn't like to wear dresses, he thought, nibbling a bit of toast. 

The meal was a bit tense, the thought of sleeping Zelda looming over them, and so it ended quickly. The king and queen told a gardener to help them find their way around and then left. Link was still a bit uncomfortable with the way his friend looked, but tried to think about what would be in there, under that rock. 

"S'pose y're look'n fer that big ol' rock then," said the old gardener. "Been try'n ta get 'em to lemme move it fer years." He led them down a long passageway of bushes twice as tall as them, past a fountain with cupid on it, through a small court yard with white stone floors, and into a grove a trees. Inside was the boulder, moss-covered and smooth from erosion. 

"I'll leave ya ter do what'efer it tis y're goin' ter do," and with that, he left the two teenagers alone in the circlet of trees. 

"So," said Link, "how exactly do you open this thing?" 

"See this patch of moss?" she said pointing, "Lift it up." Link pulled it away fairly easily and was surprised. A large purple gem lay underneath. "What am I suppose to do with that?" he asked, fiddling with his cap. 

"You press it dummy!" she said a bit apprehensive. "Honestly! Can't you even figure that out? I don't know how you got through those temples, but . . ." She sighed as Link pressed his hand on it. Nothing happened. "Here," she said, putting her hand on his and pressing. She ignored the warm, strange sensation that she felt as she did this. 

They heard a scraping sound and the boulder began to move, small bits of rock remaining where it had been. Just as she had said, there was a spiral staircase, leading down from it. 

"Ladies first," said Link, smiling. The girl tossed her hair in his face, whipping his cheek, and descended down the stairs. It gradually got darker as they went until Link shot a fire arrow at one of the torches. "Always be prepared," he said as the girl collected herself from the shock. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the bottom. The room was small and smelled musty and a bit like mothballs. There was a bed, with a black trunk at the bottom, a fireplace and a small chest of drawers. All of the furniture was very old and worn. Leading off from the room was a single door, barred with a wooden latch. 

"Where are we suppose to go now?" he asked, as the girl opened the black trunk, sending out a large cloud of dust. 

"Nowhere," said the girl, rummaging through the trunk. Link was puzzled by this. "Um, did I just hear you say nowhere?" he said, as she pulled out a pile of cloth. 

"Not until I get out of these ridiculous clothes!" She moved towards the bed and shut all the curtains. Link sighed and decided to look around the room for a while and found nothing else, except more clothes in the trunk. When his friend finally came out, she was wearing a tunic and some breeches, both a brilliant red. Her hair was still in the previous style, but Link felt much relieved. His friend was just another girl when she wore a dress. 

"I guess we can go," she said a bit hoarse. She pulled up the wooden latch and the door swung open into a dark tunnel. Link stepped in after her and carried the light with them. The tunnel was dark and damp, water dripping off the earth walls. The light of their torch was reflecting off of small puddles on the floor, the walls dancing in the silver light. Link stopped. 

"Which way do we go?" he asked. There were two tunnels as their own separated. 

"Well, umm," she said, twisting one of her fingers. Link felt his stomach sink. She was suppose to know where to go! "I think we should go that way," she declared, pointing at the left tunnel. "If you say so," said Link, and they started down that tunnel. 

It seemed as if they were going in circles and they came to four more junctions, the girl sounding more lost each time. Their light was growing dimmer and would go out soon. Link looked at the bit of tunnel he could see and there was still nothing but blackness ahead of them. Concentrating, he stumbled on a rock and the torch fell into a pool of water, extinguishing it 

"Well, now you've done it!" exclaimed a voice, "Now we'll never find our way!" Not like it matters, thought Link, We were lost anyway. They continued ahead for what seemed like years until . . . . 

SMACK! 

"Ouch!" yelled Link. He had hit a very solid piece of wall, not even earth. 

"Great! You found the door!" She walked ahead and fumbled around for the latch. Yeah, great, thought Link sarcastically. Behind the door was a large wall of trees, a small dirt path barely visible, was winding its way around the trees. It was like a miniature forest, only underground. They followed it and the trees began to thin out after a quarter of an hour. They came to a clearing at the edge of the woods and Link's mouth dropped open in wonder. 

It was a marvelous sight. It was like a city underground. Light was pouring in through the solid ceiling somehow; trees that looked like umbrellas with twisted canes; flowers of every kind; small circular buildings with a window and a small triangular door; and temples of crystal, crumbling with pillars about to collapse in. 

"How does it do that?" asked Link, looking at the ceiling. 

"I don't know," said the girl, walking down a cobblestone path. "I think some of the Tredess's wizards did it." 

"Tredess?" 

"The people who used to live here," she said, not even looking back at him. "The Goddess people, the Tredess." 

"How much do you know about them," he asked, stumbling a lot while looking at everything. 

"Well I only know how they got here and why they were here." She paused, pulling a blue piece of fruit from a nearby tree. "Catch." Link stared at the strange fruit. It looked like a bunch of grapes inside a skin. He took a small bite and then took another. It was delicious, a twist of mango and kiwi, but with as many seeds as a pomegranate. He ate it, or rather spit seeds, while she talked. 

"In old times, there were some people who were more in-tune with the powers of the Goddesses. They were getting bigger and better ideas, but many were afraid. They were cast away from everyone and left to find a new place to live. They built this underground city and began to make records of magical plants, spells, messages from the Goddesses, and their history. They named themselves the Tredess people and have lived here ever since." 

"So what," Link spit some seeds, "happened to them?" 

"Well, I don't know exactly," she said, pausing. "The last record was written very fast, quite hard to read, and it was a monster or something that they had created. It was made for good, but I guess it got out of control or something." 

"So are you saying that this monster killed them all?" Link had finished the fruit and was stunned by her casual way of saying this. A whole race of people had died! 

"I don't know for sure!" she said, getting impatient. "It isn't like the Pyist scrolls tell you everything!" 

"Umm, Pie-ist?" 

"The Phyist Temple scrolls, their history!" It was so annoying to explain it all to him! 

"Oh, right. So why did Zelda want us to go here? What good will it do?" 

"Weren't you listening to me? They have records of magical plants they found. Maybe they know something about the one that did this to her." She stopped again, looking at the road. "This way," she muttered, and started down one path. Link tried to take another path but found he bounced back, like off an invisible wall. "This is why you need to follow me. The next set is worse." Link was sure he didn't want to find out what it was, but silently followed her. 

As their journey continued, she pointed out the many temples to him and what they were for. The Miclarn, used for storing messages sent by the goddesses; the temple of Queck, the forces of the Earth, weather and other natural things ; the Vajgi, a large temple for spells; Cundrook, for apprentices to learn from their masters and practice their skills; and last the Kusmi, used for the bathing of tears ritual. 

Still they walked, the sky never changing, and the village as silent as ever. The green eyed girl stopped in front of a very different looking temple. All the others had been of a pure white stone, crystal, or a pearly azure. This temple was a rough cut building, black ivy vines engulfing half of its bulk. The others had sent out rays of singing light, while this was sending out, if anything, a haze of coldness. 

"This is Fantson, the temple of magical plants and herbs." 

"We have to go in there?" he asked, looking at her. 

"It's the only way," she said shakily. They both stood there for a moment and finally stepped inside the doorway. It was again total darkness and they had no torch. Link began to stumble forward, tripping over a rock and hitting what felt like a chair in the process. Suddenly, he heard a loud snap, which echoed throughout the temple. A light shone from behind him, as the girl walked over to him, carrying what looked like a large stalk of bamboo. It was a long stick with fire shooting out of the top, yet the stick never burned. 

"One of their magical plants," she said, seeing his amazed look, "We keep a lot of these at the entrance of each temple, just incase." 

They moved down a corridor with many small desks or tables accompanied by a chair, some quills and parchment. At the end were two heavy doors which swung open before they could be touched. Inside was another writing table and many other tables with plants of all sorts, glass bottles of liquid, tongs, and many other things Link didn't know about. 

"What is all this?" asked Link, reaching for a small bottle of amber liquid. 

"Don't touch that!" she yelled and pulled his hand away. 

"What?" he said. He had barely touched the bottle with his little finger before she had pulled it away. He took a second look at it and stepped back. The liquid was shooting out of the top and everything it touched was melting; the tables, chairs, other bottles, tubes, even the floor. 

"Sorry," he mumbled, as the girl reached for a similar bottle with an acid green liquid inside. It reacted the same except it restored all the damage. 

"You had better be more careful," she snapped. They continued through many sets of doors, none containing any scrolls or writings. Finally after about three hours, they opened the door to a huge room filled with nothing but scrolls. They had been scattered all over the floor, in various heaps and messy stacks. 

"Alright," said the girl, "might as well get started." Her voice was still a bit quavery, but she felt a lot better. This temple sure had looked scary, but there was nothing to be afraid of in here. Now she wondered why these scrolls had been forbidden. 

The two of them set to work, looking through every scroll, trying to find a likely sentence or paragraph. 

"Here's one. Many plants can be dangerous and harmful to humans, however most of them have no cure. Well, that doesn't help us!" 

"Hey, I think found one! Berligo, the master planter, has discovered a very strange plant. It has the power to make anyone who smells it fall asleep forever. Now we must find a cure to protect ourselves. Berligo has chosen it's name to be the Siesta Flower. Must have been when they first discovered it." 

"Here's an interesting one. Our experiments have been proved correct in their theory. We may have discovered the key for turning plants into animals they resemble. Testing this process will be very carefully monitored and small. Nothing is to be hurt. When we have reached a conclusion that it does work, we will be able to test it on more complex plants. Our hope is to find a cure for the one plant we cannot destroy, the Siesta Flower." 

"Why would turning the plants into animals help them?" asked the girl. 

"I don't know," said Link, thoughtfully. He put down his scroll and reached for another, but as he did a small flicker of blue caught his eye. Turning to see what it was, Link saw a shadowy corner. Shaking his head, he turned back to the scrolls. Yet again, he saw the flicker, this time purple. 

"Did you see that?" he whispered. 

"See what?" she asked looking up. 

"Never mind," he mumbled. He must be seeing things. Then he heard something worse. A low, evil sound was filling the air. It was a growl yet it was tinkling like glass, so soft he could barely hear it yet it seemed to fill his very being with volume that pained him. He slowly looked up to see a dim pair of purple gems gleaming in midair with a long silver-blue horn above it. 

"Oh, Link I think I found the next part," she exclaimed, not noticing what he was looking at, or hearing the sound. "We have been successful in changing plants into animals. Today we have tested the Siesta flower. It has turned into a strange mythical creature that we have found only in ancient scrolls of the first beings of this land. It appears to be a shadow of a horse with eyes and horn that glow violet and blue, translating to the colors of the petals. It is tame for us, yet seems to want freedom from it's cage. We fear we may never find a cure." The girl sighed heavily. "It was so close," she said. She sat down her scroll and picked up another. When Link didn't answer, she turned around. 

"What in the world--," and then she froze. In the back corner of the room was the very creature she had just described, as well as seen in the old brown book. It stepped out of the shadows, itself being a shadow, pulling the darkness with it. It's eyes narrowed and it bent it's head, the horn pointing menacingly at them. 

"On the count of three, run. I'll hold it off." Link was staring at the creature, hate filling his eyes. 

"I can't leave you," she said, her voice almost unheard. 

"You have to get out of here. I'm the hero remember? I can handle this. One, two, three!" The girl leapt to her feet and began to run. The creature ran towards her, but Link blocked it with his sword, the metal scraping the horn, sending sparks flying out. It turned towards him, it's eyes reduced to slits and charged. Link did a back flipped to get away and for the first time, wished Navi was there to help him. The beast charged again, this time cutting Link's side, and he winced. It felt as though an acid tipped sword had cut him. He sliced at it with his sword, but miraculously, it didn't work. The sword had slipped right through the creature, as if it weren't there. 

"Uh oh," said Link. Annoyed with the sword, it charged again, this time cornering Link. He jumped away just in time and the blue horn went ramming into the wall. The horn fused with the stone, holding the creature. It struggled, making the low, vile moaning louder than before. Link had to cover his ears, the sound was so painful. He had to do something! 

He began to try different weapons on the beast, while his wound grew deeper and the horn began to break free of the wall. Nothing affected it. They all went through it. Link finally resorted to his magical attacks, grimacing with agony. He used a spin attack. Nothing. An ice arrow. Nothing. A fire arrow. Again, nothing. Was this creature invincible? He shot a light arrow and the beast reared in the air, pulling it's horn free, breaking some of the stone. So, it's weak to light, thought Link smugly, holding his bleeding side as he ran through the doorway, locking the door. 

A loud crash hit it as a blue spike went through the door burning it. He pulled a light arrow ready to fire. The door shattered, leaving pieces of blue-hot wood littered on the floor. Link released the arrow and it hit the shadows chest. Again it reared, this time leaping towards it's foe. Turning, he ran as the beast thundered behind him, gaining speed. The doors flung open as before and he was let out into the light of the city of the Tredess. 

"Your safe!" yelled his teary-eyed friend. She ran towards him and hugged him. Link was a bit startled by this, but grabbed her hand and ran as fast as he could, blood spattering the cobblestones as they went. "We've got to get out of here," he said, not looking back. They were getting closer to the forest, the agonizing sound growing fainter and Link dared to look back. 

The creature was staggering as it tried to run after them, as though it's leg were broken. Link saw it as it collapsed on the ground a few feet from them, taking in great shuddering breaths, it's life almost gone. He pulled back an arrow and sent it at the beast. It writhed and the moaning grew so intense that Link and the girl were absolutely screaming in pain from it 

It grew quiet and they both looked towards the body of the beast. It was sinking into the ground, the horn was evaporating but the eyes grew more vivid, larger. Soon only those mesmerizing eyes were all that was left and they stared at them, suddenly growing larger and larger ... 

"Run!" The eyes were shooting at them, chasing them into the forest. They ran as fast as they could until they reached the wooden door. Link pulled it open and then slammed it shut. The outside of the door was smoking and then is finally burned through. Two eyes had been branded into the door as a mark to remember what had happened here. Link grinned as he sat down, the pain in his side too much for him to stand, not realizing that the second vision had come true. 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N - This is one of my favorite chapters! I hope everyone who is reading this story will pay attention to this note. The little poem/prophecy thingy here? As the story progresses, read it and you will see how it was so cleverly written. It was hard to write, especially rhyming. I also like this chapter because we meet Marin! I love Marin ... she is so ... me!   
  


Also, for anyone who cares, I added a certain scene to this chapter that was not here before. I decided I want Link and this girl to have more of a ... *snaps fingers, trying to think of a word*. Well, I want them to "know" each other better. Anyway, it is cute so I like it. I don't know why I didn't leave it before. I guess I had decided that this part was waaaaaay too cheesy, but i fixed it so don't worry. Anyway, please have fun reading my story! - MarinK    
  


Chapter Ten

Finding Our Pasts   
  


After finding the monster, defeating it, and escaping to the world above, they were both exhausted. Their majesties sent both of them to separate rooms, servants and healers in with them night and day until Link finally knocked one of them out in frustration. Then they had to give an explanation of what had happened, and also revealing how Zelda and the girl had known about the place. When it was all over the only thing left to do was look at the one, last scroll. The girl had picked it up at the last moment and had held onto it. Written upon it was a prophecy or poem of some sort telling about the cure. It read:   
  


For one who seeks to know the truth, 

To find the cure unknown. 

What you shall need is not a sooth, 

Or magic from the dead and bone.   
  


The pieces simple, the price not high, 

Three things of far, three things not sold. 

The place to find them, you need not fly, 

Is reached only by those not old.   
  


Far away, from the island of the sun, 

The path so clear, though you do not see. 

The girl will meet you, and give you each one, 

A small silver feather, and a drop of her sea.   
  


The final question, do you have the nerve, 

To battle the monster, you must be braver. 

Are you the one who does not serve? 

Are you their sought after savior?   
  


The one weapon you can play 

The soft melody of Melody, 

But more than that we cannot say. 

Though some know not her to be   
  


Shall your friends weep, and be mourning? 

Can you defeat evil as one, 

Without them adorning? 

Only then shall your prize be won, 

The Mystical Flowers of Morning.   
  


It was long and almost none of it made sense to either of the teenagers, or the king and queen. One night the two of them stayed up, trying to figure it out. Both their heads were close together, almost touching, as they looked at the scroll. 

"Well, the 'cure unknown' has to be the cure for the Siesta Flower," the girl muttered, "because they said that was the only cure they didn't know." This did make sense, but it was only a small portion of the puzzle. 

"Is reached only by those not old . . . ." muttered Link, staring at the paper. 

"And what we need are a silver feather, a drop of this girl's sea, as well as that flower of morning, which seems hardest to get, since you have to get past a monster . . . ." 

."From the island of sun . . . . ." Link was oblivious to her, as she was him. 

" . . And we already battled a monster, didn't we? That shadow horse or whatever it was. And what could possibly be worse than that?" 

"The path so clear . . . . . . the girl will meet you . . . ." 

"And to me, it looks like the monster is guarding that flower. But why? It isn't magical is it? I mean it said that you wouldn't need any magic at the very beginning." She sighed and placed her head on her shoulder, the night howling outside, and the fire crackling beside her. 

"I have it!" The girl was so startled that her head slipped and her chin bumped her knees painfully. 

"What have you got?" she muttered, rubbing a spot on her left leg. 

"I know where we have to go! We have to go to Marin's island ---" 

"--- who is Marin?" she asked, cutting in sourly. Link didn't bother to answer though, intoxicated with his brilliance. 

"Koholint!"   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


They stayed up until it was very late, Link explaining all about Marin and Koholint, how he had gotten there and saved it from monsters and such. 

"So is she another one of your girlfriends?" she said after a while. 

"Well, not really, but all of my friends are girls." Link thought this was a good way of putting it, but the girl shook her brown hair. So, he does have a girl friend, she thought angrily, Well, next time I'll know better than to fall in love with a hero! She slowly got up and left without another word, head down. Link started after her, then thought better of it, walking down the stairs to take a walk, alone. 

She slammed the door to her room, throwing her clothes on the floor and changing into a soft cotton nightgown for bed, telling herself how much of a fool she had been, how he could never have liked her anyway and was just being polite. For the first time in years, she felt like crying, not from a memory, but from an emotion that had just popped up without warning. Trying to distract herself, she opened her brown knapsack and smiled at the two paintings she pulled out. They wouldn't want me to be sad, she thought. She kissed them both and placed them gently back into the bag. They didn't seem to fit but then she found the wind chime, blocking them. 

Setting them down, she pulled out the forgotten wind chime. The wavy colors, the clear vacancy of thoughts, the smooth and cold surface. She strolled to her window and hung it on a stick that had formally held a birdcage. At once, the magic held a breeze to play the calming notes of her mothers lullaby. She hummed with the song and sat at the window, gazing into the slightly stormy sky. I love the smell of rain, she thought soundlessly. She sat down in one of two chairs, so fixed on the night sky, she didn't hear anything going on around her. 

Thinking about her mother began to bring up slight fears in her aching body. Her mother loved her father so much and they both had died. Secretly, somewhere deep (either her soul or her toes), she believed the same fate would await her if ever anyone loved her, or if she loved them. Besides, she thought while brushing her hair, Link didn't love her. Maybe he liked her enough to be friends but not love. He could have any girl he wanted. 

Setting her brush aside, she began to braid her long hair. Tying it securely with a ribbon, she walked onto the balcony, her mother's melody playing in the breeze. She leaned over her balcony, that was overgrown on one side with thorny rose bushes and a large tree reached up even past the railing around her balcony. She looked to see how far down the roses went, when she saw Link, walking alone in the garden. The light rain made a little ting sound on the stone. 

Smiling, watching him stride around, bumping into a man and bowing slightly, making a few remarks and eventually sitting down on a stone bench, covered in ornate designs that she could not make out from where she was. He sat there, pulling on his now damp blonde hair and suddenly turning around. It took her a moment to realize he was watching her too now. He stood up and began towards her window. Blushing furiously, she walked away from the balcony and sat on her bed, the heavy drapes around it closed tightly.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


Walking around in the gardens, Link wondered why this girl was different. Certainly, Link had maintained very close friendships with many girls but this felt different. Smiling, he remembered how they had met in the woods. They had hated each other and now ... what was happening? Somehow I feel she is in love with me, thought Link, but it can't be ... can it? I mean, I love her but is it my imagination that makes me think she loves me back? She seems afraid of me at times, yet she clings to me in times of desperation. Finally, Link decided he was just plain mad and it was too late to think about such things. 

Walking quickly, not thinking of or watching where he was going, he bumped into the Duke Roald. 

"I -I'm sorry, your Grace. I wasn't watching where I was walking," said Link, slightly bowing in his embarrassment. The Duke was a kindly old man, round about the middle, thinning hair and a broad face, great for smiling and laughing. 

"You too I see?" Duke Roald said heartily. "I was bitten by the Lady Gwendoline, how about you?" Link stared at him, a bit startled. He shuffled his feet. 

"I'm not sure I quite understand you sir ..." remarked Link slowly, considering his words and looking utterly confused. 

"Bitten! Lad, I could see it in your eyes." He chuckled and hiccuped a few times. "Some people may use more elegant terms but I seem to fancy 'bitten' to 'smitten' or 'love-sick swain,' don't you? Good luck with you lad! It looks like rain doesn't it?" he chortled, heartily laughing as he went. Link sat down on a stone bench, rose bushes surrounding him in this small alcove, a drop or two of rain dripped down his hair. He pulled on his hair in large handfuls as if to rip it out. Was love always this frustrating? He looked up at the stormy rain skewn sky, then to the east to see how light it was becoming. As he did so, his eyes stopped on a balcony. A girl in a white nightdress was watching him. It was her. His beloved friend with no name by which to call her. He stood up and began eagerly towards her balcony, but she flushed and walked swiftly away. 

He paused. More rain fell, in sheets now. He shivered, wondering what he should do, whether or not to go see her. Deciding against it, he walked back to the door in which he had come out from only to find it locked and the guard gone. He was probably shifting duty and it would be another half hour before a guard returned. Icy rain poured onto him, his clothes would be soaked through in a moment. He looked back at the balcony and began towards it again, slightly pink in the face and not just form the cold.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


Her eyes slightly wet, the green-eyed girl curled up on her bed, pulling her ornate quilt up around her. As she began to fall asleep to the rumbling thunder, a rustling woke her. She peeked out the slight gap in her curtains to see Link, climbing up into her balcony from the high tree. She lay back down, her eyes wide open as she thought wildly. He began walking across the floor, his squishy foot steps sounding, water dripping. 

Link pulled back the curtains, the girl trying very hard to pretend she was asleep. 

"Are you awake?" he said softly. She didn't move, didn't dare even breathe. Link brushed the hair from her face that had escaped her braid and kissed her cheek softly, making the girl shiver slightly from the cold. Then, after a long moment of silence, he kissed her lips. A feeling of slight terrifying goodness swept over her, making her open her eyes. When he released her, he saw the look of terror in her eyes. Link's face went red as a beet. 

"I-I ... the door was locked and I-I uh, couldn't get back in the castle. Your balcony window was open ..." he stopped, thoroughly embarrassed at his explanation. He knew she wasn't thinking about how he had gotten inside her room. She sat up, shaking. 

"Link, I -- that was just so --" she stopped. Both of them sat there, pink cheeked and bright eyed. They both stared at each other, wondering what the other would say. The silence was complete. Finally, Link stood up, saying "I should be going, it's late. I wouldn't want to leave a watermark in your chair." He walked away, closing the door behind him. 

Melody laid back down, staring at the ceiling of her canopy bed, wondering what would happen tomorrow. Even though the sun's first light was coming, sleep claimed her and the strange melody of her wind chime crept into her dreams.   
  


-*-*-*-*-   
  


"Melody. Come my child, the night is nearly gone!" The girl's eyes opened and stared. She wasn't in the palace. In fact, she wasn't anywhere she knew of. She had been laying on the shore of a piece of land, perhaps an island, on a golden beach. And there was a women standing above her, with golden hair and eyes that were . . . she gasped. Just like mine, she thought. 

"Yes," replied the women. 

"I didn't say anything," she said, sitting up and looking around. 

"Didn't you think your eyes looked like mine just now?" she said, frowning. 

"Well, yes," she murmured, baffled. How had she known? 

"We are linked by our magic," she answered, yet again, " and our link is even stronger because you are my daughter." 

"I can't be!" she said, her temper rising in her. "My mother died from a very fatal illness!" 

"Yes, I did," whispered the women, her voice serious, yet still kind. "I died one night, happy to leave my pain. When I woke from death, I found myself here on this island. I travel here by night and am a whisper in the wind by day, so no one knows I am here. Until you came," and she smiled warmly. 

"No," said the smaller girl, "My mother is dead. She died from a fatal sickness." 

"I know I did, but --" 

"You are NOT MY MOTHER!" she yelled and ran away from her, tears streaming down her cheeks, her mouth full of a bitter liquid from biting her tongue. She tripped in the sand and fell, her face covered in little grains of sand stuck to her tears. How could that woman be so . . . so . . . general about it? And she wasn't her mother! 

Then the sound that filled her ears made her heart leap for joy. It was her mother's song, sung by her mother. She shifted into a sitting position and watched the woman, sitting there on the shore line. All of her doubts were lifted when she heard that song. Somehow she just felt it was the truth, somehow in her heart there was no doubt. Her heart recognized the voice, her mother's voice. How could she have yelled like that to her mother? Slowly and solemnly, she walked over to her. 

She just sat there, staring at the sea and singing the song through before looking at her daughter. 

"Melody," she said. 

"What?" answered the girl. 

"Your name is Melody." 

"But I don't have a name." Her mother shook her head. 

"That is what I wanted to name you. I was hoping your father would think of it, but he never did. I didn't want him to agree just because I thought it was nice. I wanted him to know it was the perfect name for you." She smiled yet again, then took a short glimpse at the horizon where the sky was growing lighter. 

"Melody," she said, quickly, "You must save the princess. The Mystical Flower of Morning . . ." 

"How did you know about that?" she asked. 

"Remember, I can see your thoughts. With practice you can see mine. But now you must listen! The only way you can get to the Flower is past the monster and you need to remember this. The only way to get past is to --" And then she dissolved in the air, as if she had never been there at all. Melody stood up and looked about. No one, but her was on the shore and there wasn't any civilization nearby. She began to run, searching and calling, but it was no good. Where had she gone? And how was she to get home? 

Dizziness suddenly washed over her and she fell onto the sand, her eyes barely making out the first rays of sun.   
  


~*~*~*~*~   
  
  
  


"So who's the sleepy head now?" 

Melody sat up and looked about. She was back in the palace, the sun rising in the sky. It must have all been a dream, yet it had been so real. She was so focused on her thoughts she hadn't noticed Link's comment. Then she jumped. Memories of last night flowed back to her. 

"Are you going to sit there all day?" he asked, tugging on her arm. He was acting as though nothing had happened. Melody's heart sank. Perhaps he didn't really love her. Perhaps she had dreamed it ... 

"Hmm?" she asked, distractedly. 

"I said, we need to get going. Link pulled her to her feet and she came out of her daze. They were only a foot apart. She drew back. 

"What happened last night?" she said quietly, trying to pull her hand away. His grip remained firm. 

"Well, I was just -- and you were so --" he said but couldn't continue. So she hadn't been dreaming after all! 

"Why did you kiss me?" she went on bluntly. The death-grip on her hand tightened at her words. Link didn't seem to notice, just stood there. 

"I don't want to talk about it ... not just yet." Melody nodded at him and decided to go on being angry about him barging in. She pulled her hand away and stepped back form him. 

"And don't come barreling in like that in the morning. You know I hate that. Don't you have any kind of human feelings? Next time just knock!" she said angrily, "And I am not you anymore, I'm Melody!" 

"Your what?" he said, confused after her long speech. She shook her head and grudgingly told him about her dream, explaining that her name was Melody now. 

"But that can't be," he said, frowning. 

"I know, but --." He stopped her. 

"No, it's just that you seemed to think it felt real right? As if you where actually there?" 

"Yes," she said slowly, wondering what he was getting at. 

"That is just the way I felt about Koholint." Was he saying that she had been on Koholint? She didn't know how to get there though. 

"It couldn't have been," she said, matter-of-factly, "You said you had to know the way or . ." 

"Or be called," he finished for her. He looked at her thoughtfully. "And she probably knew where to find you because her song was playing, that wind chime." It sort of made sense, if any of it had made sense. 

"But how can you travel to an island in a dream?" 

"I don't completely understand it myself, but your just gonna have to trust me." The question was, did she trust him? That was the one thing she didn't know. But what choice did she have? 

They both went down to breakfast and told the king and queen about their plan and what they had discovered last night. Hesitantly, they agreed, seeing there was nothing else that could be done for now. Quickly, Melody and Link returned to her room where they both laid down and tried to fall asleep.   
  


*** Half an Hour Later ***   
  


"How in Nayru's name are we suppose to fall asleep?" Link grumbled. 

"I don't know," Melody said, thinking. "Maybe we can listen to my wind chime. That helped me ... last night." 

"I suppose it's worth a shot," Link sighed, obviously doubtful. She ignored him and picked the chime up out of her knapsack and carefully hung it on the wooden pole as before. Then she returned to the bed, the music already playing. 

After a few moments passed, Link's eyes began to droop. Guess she was right, Link thought as he yawned. In another minute they were both sound asleep.   
  


~*~*~*~*~   
  


"Where are we?" said Melody, looking at her surroundings. They were in a vast world of grayness with many holes all around her. 

"In the place before dreams," answered Link, right next to her. Instead of walking, he sort of floated over to one of the holes and paused, waiting for Melody. Then they both went through the hole, into a swirling vortex of gray fog. 

Melody had to shut her eyes to keep from being sick. She held onto Link's hand, not daring to let go and be thrown away from him, becoming lost. Then she landed on something a bit squishy and soft, as her feet sank into it. She opened her eyes and saw that it was sand. Looking around even more, she saw that this was the very spot where she had been with her mother! 

Frantically, she let go of Link and began to search around and then remembering that since it was day, she would not be here. 

"Link? Link, is that you?" A small figure was running towards them. From what Melody could see it had to be Marin. She had long flowing red hair, eyes as blue as the sea at night, and a perfect figure. Just what any boy could want, thought Melody, a bit jealously. 

The girl rushed up to Link, not noticing her, and gave him a big hug. Link hugged her back and Melody felt a slight pang in her stomach, her cheeks going a bit pink. 

"Oh, I've missed you so much!" said Marin, still hugging Link. 

"I missed you too," said Link as they finally broke their hug. Marin looked over and saw Melody, dressed in the same red outfit that she had worn before. 

"Who's this?" she asked, not the slightest bit of resent in her voice. 

"This is Melody. Melody, this is Marin." At least she hasn't gotten too mad yet, Link thought, looking at her scowl and pink cheeks. 

"Oh, hi Melody!" Marin said walking over to her. She seemed excited about meeting someone new, an always-be-happy expression on her face. 

"Hello," said Melody, a bit stiffly. 

"We were wondering if you could help us Marin," said Link, trying to change the subject. 

"Sure. What do you need?" 

"Well it is kind of a long story but --" 

"Oh, lets go back to my house to discuss it then," she said, grabbing his hand. "Might as well be comfortable." She pulled Link along, with Melody behind them. 

When they reached her small and perfect little house, they stepped inside to a room with some wooden chairs and a small table. Also there was a small birdcage in the corner, with many little birds fluttering about inside it, singing a beautiful song. They sat down, as Marin ran to get some drinks and such for them. When she came back, Link explained everything as fast as he could, having already told it many times. When they had finished, the sun was overhead and Marin had a peculiar look on her face. 

"We have a legend similar to that, but I thought it was just a story." Marin seemed to be getting at something. 

"What is it?" asked Link. 

"Every year we have this, er, ceremony where we act out this old legend about two strangers, a boy and a girl, coming here on a quest. A maiden is chosen to give them a silver feather and a tear drop for them in pity for their fate. Then they go on to face the monster of the island, yet it is the girl who wins against it, and then the maiden presents one of the golden sun flowers, which I am guessing is supposed to represent your Mystical Flower of Morning." 

"So people act out our quest, that we are doing right now, every year?" Link was astonished. So Marin knew exactly what they were going to do. 

"Well, they never really face the monster," she said, "It is much to dangerous. They also don't get the real flowers either though I have heard they are extrodinary." 

"Marin, what is the monster?" asked Melody, slowly, knowing that they were going to have to face it. 

"It is a monster of vines and plants. It guards the small patch of flowers on all sides in a pit. Anyone who has even been down there has died." Her voice was very solemn at these last words. Melody felt a bit nervous about that. The last time she had faced living vines was when they had nearly killed her. She wasn't really looking forward to another round of it. 

"Are you saying that you've always had this monster? Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Link felt a bit hurt by this. 

"I just thought that this one would be too much for you," she said smiling, "I wouldn't want to lose my best friend, now would I?" At this, Link shot a look at Melody that had I-told-you-so written all over it. Okay, so maybe Marin wasn't Link's girlfriend. Melody was now very embarrassed about her little tizzy last night, fretting over nothing. 

"So when does this ceremony start anyway?" asked Link. 

"Oh, in a few weeks," said Marin, waving her hand, " but I can just get you what you need right now." She walked over to the cage and caught one of the birds and shut the cage again. To it's discomfort, she began to search all over it, pulling it wings open and shut again until, at last, she pulled out one of the downy feathers. She handed it to Melody and she saw that it was gleaming silver. 

"Every bird on this island has at least one silver feather," Marin explained, seeing their strange looks. "Now all I've got to do is make myself cry," she said a bit indignantly. It seemed to Melody that she didn't like the idea of crying. 

Marin sat there for about ten minuets, squinting and blinking here eyes, trying to squeeze out a tear into a small bottle she held. 

"Oh this is stupid," said Link, getting up. He walked over to Marin and stepped on her sandaled foot very hard. 

"OW!" shrieked Marin, her eyes watering with pain. Link grabbed the bottle and scooped up a few of her tears in it. 

"Ok, now that's done," he said, restraining his laughter as Marin stared at him with anger. "Can we go face that monster now?" 

Marin silently stood up. "Okay, but I'm warning you," she said, as if scolding Link, "It is a lot worse than it sounds." 

They followed her over to the door and left, Marin slamming it so that it hit Link as he went out. The last leg of their journey had begun. 


End file.
